County judges urge consolidation, clearer authority for defunct levee districts after Arkansas River flooding

County judges and county officials told a joint legislative meeting that many aging levee districts are inactive or underfunded and that state action is needed to make them functional again.

Conway County Judge Jimmy Hart described emergency measures his office used to stave off larger damage — sheet piling, Coffer dams and borrowed heavy equipment — and said some levees have historic components (60‑year‑old corrugated metal culverts) that present a "ticking time bomb." "When you have a levee that's 30 feet high and 50‑foot wide and you've got 36‑inch corrugated pipes from 1960, those are vulnerabilities," Hart said. He urged statutory tools to allow county courts to step in when boards do not function.

Yell and other county judges echoed calls for clearer legal authority and suggested legislative standards that would allow consolidation of small contiguous districts into larger, financially viable units. Bruce Holland of the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and Association of Arkansas Counties witnesses said the task force will pursue an inventory and recommended starting with the Arkansas River system as a model before expanding elsewhere.

Judges asked for streamlined access to technical assistance and funding and suggested the Legislature consider targeted statutory fixes so county governments can lawfully use resources to make emergency repairs without facing legal constraints tied to road‑funding rules or other constitutional limits.