The number of full-time employees at state agencies — other than public higher-education institutions — dipped by 324, to 31,510, last fiscal year, according to state records.
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Of that total, agencies of the executive branch — under direct control of Gov. Asa Hutchinson — saw the number of full-time employees fall by 788 to 25,614 in fiscal 2016. However, employee ranks increased in other agencies — the three constitutionally independent agencies, the judicial and legislative branches and the six other constitutional offices, Department of Finance and Administration records show.
Hutchinson said the decline in numbers of employees in full-time executive branch positions “is somewhat remarkable when you consider the fact that … we’ve had a prison expansion and we’ve had a foster challenge that have all resulted in additional staffing in those two critical public safety areas.”
“Even with that, we’ve had a significant decline in [numbers of] state employees, and that can be attributed to good leadership by my agency directors that have taken the responsibility to look carefully at the structure of their agency, how we’re utilizing our employees, and how we can do it better,” the Republican governor said. Hutchinson took office in January 2015, in the middle of fiscal 2015, which ended June 30 last year. Fiscal 2016 was his first full fiscal year as governor.
Hutchinson said his socalled hiring freeze requiring his approval for agencies under his control to fill vacant positions “allows us to reduce employment by attrition for those positions that are not necessary … and that’s been successful in helping us to achieve this goal of reducing our numbers.”
The largest staffing decreases were in the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services.
Employee numbers at the Health Department dropped by 364, to 2,251, in fiscal 2016. At the Department of Human Services, they dropped by 150, to 7,297, state records show.
The bulk of the Health Department’s decline was from employees departing the in-home health services program that was sold to Kindred Health Care Inc. in August, said Robert Brech, chief financial officer for the department.
Despite the overall decline in worker totals at the Department of Human Services, two divisions saw increases: the Aging and Adult Services Division increased by 76 to 272, and the Children and Family Services Division increased by 31 to 1,015, according to state records.
But numbers in the Human Services Department’s County Operations Division decreased by 109 to 1,730 last fiscal year, and in the Developmental Disabilities Services Division by 104 to 2,263, state records show.
Staffing in the Children and Family Services Division increased “due to our efforts to hire additional caseworkers to help deal with our growing caseloads,” said department spokesman Amy Webb. The division oversees the state’s foster care program.
The staffing decline in the County Operations Division and the increase in the Aging and Adult Services Division were in part because “we transferred an eligibility unit that handles eligibility for long-term case services” from the former division to the latter, Webb said.
Some Developmental Disability Services Division positions “were moved to other divisions or just aren’t being filled. In addition, we do have high turnover as it relates to the direct-care positions in this division, so that could account for some of the decrease as well,” Webb said.
“From a broader perspective, [department director Cindy Gillespie] … wants to reduce the size of our workforce through attrition and improved efficiencies. This is a priority, though we understand this will take time,” Webb said.
Full-time workers at the Department of Correction increased by 79 to 4,138, while the number at the Department of Community Correction inched up by nine to 1,266, according to state records.
Correction Department staffing increased last fiscal year because of the January expansion of the Ester Unit in Pine Bluff, said department spokesman Solomon Graves.
Among other agencies, the number of employees decreased by 55, to 2,546, at the Department of Finance and Administration last fiscal year; by 45, to 251, at the Public Defender Commission; and by 32, to 751, at the Department of Parks and Tourism, state records show.
“We have generally tried to increase efficiency throughout the agency and find new ways to meet DFA’s mission while lowering agency costs,” Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Jake Bleed said. “This includes reassigning roles within the agency and not filling positions as they come open. We have also consolidated some administrative roles, such as in procurement and human resources, to increase the agency’s overall efficiency.”
Department of Parks and Tourism Director Kane Webb said some of the decline in his department’s ranks “is due to retirement and attrition,” and the governor’s emphasis on efficiency.
E m p l oye e n u m b e rs dropped by 29, to 361, at the Department of Education; by 28, to 345, at the Department of Environmental Quality; and by 26, to 433, at the Department of Career Education Rehabilitation Services, according to state records.
The Department of Education hasn’t reduced funding or services to school districts, said department spokesman Kimberly Friedman.
“However, it has been an emphasis of Gov. Hutchinson and Commissioner [Johnny] Key to improve efficiency in the delivery of state education services and oversight,” Friedman said. “As a result, ADE has identified savings that allow us to better serve the state and our districts, while being good stewards of taxpayer money.”
Arkansas Rehabilitation Services Commissioner Alan McClain said the lower number of employees under his control is the result of “a high volume of turnover and the increased opportunity to more efficiently use existing staff.”
The number of employees dropped at the Department of Environmental Quality “in anticipation of ongoing reduction of federal funds to states to run various programs, [and] the decreases reflect efficiencies identified through program reviews and consolidation through reorganization,” said Kelly Robinson, a spokesman for the department.
Staffing at constitutionally independent agencies increased by 67, to 4,305, last fiscal year, according to state records. Those agencies are the Highway and Transportation Department, Game and Fish Commission, and Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.
Most of that increase was in the highway agency — up by 64, to 3,732 — because “of a continuation of our efforts to beef up our maintenance crews,” said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the department.
“The winter storm of late 2013/early 2014 landed us in front of a legislative committee. Our road-clearing efforts were perceived as poor compared to our neighbors, especially Missouri. It was noted at that time that our longterm goal of being efficient by keeping employment levels down was a deficiency when facing major events,” he said in a written statement. “The result was to begin upgrading our equipment fleet and to increase our maintenance forces. We said at the time that we needed to increase by about 200 employees. We went up by about 100 the first year and another 60-plus this past year.”
The number of employees in full-time positions in the governor’s office increased by three, to 54, but staffing at the Governor’s Mansion declined by one, to nine, according to state records. The increase in the governor’s office included the creation of a second deputy director position and an office-wide restructuring that created two other new positions, said Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis.
Among five of the constitutional officers, in addition to the governor, state records show:
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin kept his staffing level at two last fiscal year.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office added five employees, to 171 total.
Land Commissioner John Thurston’s office added three, to 40 total.
Secretary of State Mark Martin added two employees, to a total of 140.
Treasurer Dennis Milligan added one worker, to 33 total.
Officials said the above increases were mostly because of filling positions that had been vacant.
In the office of the seventh constitutional officer, state Auditor Andrea Lea’s staffing increased by 247, to 278, last fiscal year as a result of the Bureau of Legislative Research asking the office to list other employees that they pay, said Lea spokesman Skot Covert. The 278 employees include 240 deputy prosecuting attorneys; 12 juvenile probation and intake employees; and 26 employees in the auditor’s office, Covert said.
All seven of the state’s constitutional officers are Republicans.
The number of employees in full-time positions in the judicial branch increased by 130, to 493, because of a reporting change, according to state records. That accounts for a 244-employee increase, to 369, in the Administrative Office of the Courts. “These are not new state positions — just an inter-agency transfer. It consists of 122 court reporter positions and 122 trial court administrator positions,” said J.D. Gingrich, administrator of the Administrative Office of the Courts.
The number of full-time employees in the legislative branch agencies increased by nine, to 434, according to state records. The number increased by five, to 281, in Arkansas Legislative Audit; by two, to 25, in the House of Representatives; by two, to 14, in the state Senate; and remained the same at 114 in the Bureau of Legislative Research. Republicans are the majority party in both the House and Senate.
The number of employees in fulltime positions in the governor’s office increased by three, to 54, but staffing at the Governor’s Mansion declined by one, to nine, according to state records.