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Sen. Mark Johnson’s bill narrows county planning-board appointments to favor unincorporated residents
Summary
Sen. Mark Johnson told the committee Senate Bill 87 would require at least two-thirds of voting county planning-board members to live in unincorporated areas in affected counties; Pulaski County was a focal point of the discussion and the committee adopted an amendment and passed the bill as recorded in the transcript.
Sen. Mark Johnson, R., District 17, told the Senate City, County & Local Affairs Committee that Senate Bill 87 is aimed at ensuring county planning boards are representative of the people who live under their jurisdiction.
“Instead of taxation without representation, it's control without representation,” Johnson said, describing his discovery that Pulaski County’s planning board had a majority of members who did not live in the unincorporated area. Johnson said his amendment changed a stricter requirement that all members live in unincorporated areas to a standard where “at least two thirds of the voting members would have to live in the unincorporated area.”
Adam Fogelman, Pulaski County civil attorney, appearing for the County Judges Association, told the committee the bill raised operational concerns. He said the measure could give subsets of quorum-court members disproportionate appointment authority and could remove flexibility about qualifications. “It would take away expertise. It would take away, from the talent pool, and it would limit the quorum court to act as a body like it should,” Fogelman said, identifying the Little Rock Air Force Base planning board as an example where broad representation from cities and counties was needed.
Senators asked whether the bill would apply only to Pulaski County and Johnson said current language was limited to counties with populations of 200,000 or more that contain eight municipalities or fewer, which at the time of his presentation applied to Pulaski County. After discussion the committee adopted the amendment Johnson offered, and the transcript records the committee passing the bill: “Aye. All opposed? No. Bill passes.”
Johnson said he had modified language to remove the word “flagrantly” from a provision about knowingly violating subdivision ordinances so that penalties would apply only where a violation was proven to be knowing.
The transcript shows the committee adopted Johnson’s amendment and voted to pass Senate Bill 87 during the same hearing.
