Jonesboro committee forwards plan to add second assistant fire chief, chief says promotions will cover cost

The Jonesboro Public Safety Committee voted to forward to the full City Council a resolution that would create a second assistant fire chief position in the Jonesboro Fire Department and realign duties between operations and training/administration.

Reading the resolution, the chair said the change was included in the proposed FY2026 budget and that "no headcount increase for the department will be necessary." Committee members pressed for clarification on that point.

"I'll be happy to answer that," Fire Chief Hamrick said. He explained that recent changes had left the department able to promote from within rather than hire a new employee, and that the new assistant chief position would be filled through reorganization and promotion. "We're just reorganizing that just a little to make it work," he said.

Chief Hamrick estimated the promotions related to the reorganization would cost "30 to $40,000," and later committee discussion referenced a $35,000–$40,000 figure as the amount included in the fire department salary line for FY2026. The chair noted that the higher salary line (transcribed as $251,000 in the budget documents cited by the chair) already accounts for those promotion costs.

Committee members recorded no objections and voted to forward the staffing resolution to the full council for consideration.

The measure will next be considered at the full City Council meeting.