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Desha County JPs withdraw plan to stop library utility payments after county attorney warns of contract breach
Summary
A motion to withhold county-paid utility payments to local libraries was proposed at the Jan. 15 Desha County Quorum Court meeting but withdrawn after County Attorney Brooks Gill advised that withholding would breach the existing contract; the Library Board will meet Feb. 9, 2026 to consider a new contract.
At the Jan. 15, 2026 meeting of the Desha County Quorum Court, a proposal by JP 2 G. Lynn Weatherford and JP 5 Hollis Mankin to withhold county-paid utility payments to local libraries was withdrawn after the county attorney warned the move would violate the existing contract.
County letters had notified the Southeast Regional Library and other libraries that the county would no longer pay utility expenses while a new contract was negotiated; the minutes note libraries receive a quarterly millage tax payment. Ms. Hunter, director of the Southeast Regional Library, told the court she had not received the notice. JP 2 said a copy should be provided to Ms. Hunter before she left the meeting.
When JP 2 and JP 5 moved to withhold the funds, County Attorney Brooks Gill advised that withholding the funds would constitute a breach of the existing agreement and therefore was not permissible. The court recessed so the County Judge could retrieve the letter sent to the libraries and the County Attorney could read and explain the contract. Following the lawyer's reading and explanation, JP 2 withdrew the motion; the withdrawal was seconded by JP 5 and the court voted 'all in favor.' A subsequent motion by JP 2, seconded by JP 5, formally withdrew the previous withholding motion and was approved.
The minutes show the County Judge suggested the county continue paying utilities until the Library Board meets and renders a decision. The Library Board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. at the Monticello Regional Library and will be livestreamed via Zoom.
No dollar amounts, the text of the library contract, or the county's timeline for negotiating a new agreement are included in the Jan. 15 minutes; those details were not specified in the record provided.
