WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark — Nearly $336,000 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds was discussed during the Tuesday night, March 8, Washington County Quorum Court Budget Meeting.
The money would pay architects and engineers who have already begun work on the Washington County Jail Expansion. However, some Justices of The Peace, who are not part of the budget committee, raised questions on whether those ARPA funds can be used for this purpose.
"Have we gotten a legal opinion about the legality of spending this money on correctional facilities," asked District 12 Washington Co. Justice of the Peace, Evelyn Rios-Stafford.
Justice of the Peace-Rios Stafford and Justice of the Peace Eva Madison says the problem is that nearly $336,000 would come from last year's leftover budget, which was meant to address COVID-19 in the jail and juvenile justice building. They are calling it illegal to reappropriate the funds for a jail expansion.
"Opinions about what the final rules say has not been, I don't think, deemed that this is an inappropriate use of the funds," said District 5 Washington Co. Justice of the Peace, Patrick Deakins.
"The work has been started," said Brian Lester, county attorney. "We can't tell the architect we can't pay them. 'Hey, sorry, we're not going to pay you for these services.' We've already started that process."
Justices of the Peace Rios-Stafford and Madison suggested that the county pull the money from general funds instead of ARPA funds.
"I don't want to get down the road and have the answer be 'Well, you couldn't spend it that way,'" Madison said.
Justice of the Peace Sean Simons suggests they hold off on this decision until next month to get clarification from the U.S. Treasury.
"We're not in a huge hurry," said District 3 Washington Co. Justice of the Peace, Sean Simons.
However, the quorum court budget committee decided to take it to a vote next Tuesday night, March 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Be sure to stay with 5NEWS for updates on this developing story.
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