County judge rivals lay out their issues

FORT SMITH — In Sebastian County, Democrats will decide their county judge nominee Tuesday, choosing from a political rookie who thinks reducing drug crimes can help resolve jail crowding and a former Republican circuit clerk who says it’s time for new leadership in county government.

Fort Smith attorney Mosemarie Boyd faces former circuit clerk and local businessman Ken Blevins. The winner will run against longtime incumbent Republican David Hudson in the November general election.

Blevins said people in south Sebastian County have several complaints about conditions in that area, notably that the county’s Emergency Medical Services has long response times in the Lavaca and Mansfield areas, the east and south extremes of the county.

Hudson says the county puts out annual reports on EMS and information about response times that “get to the truth.”

Blevins said south Sebastian County residents also are concerned that their water pipes are not large enough to accommodate fire hydrants. The lack of adequate fire protection, he said, results in residents paying more for insurance.

He also said people are concerned about “corruption” in county government, and “a lot of people don’t have a lot of nice things to say about David Hudson.”

The county used money earmarked for south Sebastian County to build the water park at the county’s Ben Geren Regional Park on Fort Smith’s southern border, Blevins said. He said he doubts that many people from south Sebastian County have gone to the water park.

Hudson declined to respond to Blevins’ comments but said he conducts county business based on facts and documents, and that his actions are a matter of record.

Blevins blames Hudson for ruining his 2012 re-election bid after Blevins was embroiled in sexual harassment grievances filed by female staff members. Blevins sued Hudson in 2013, accusing him of sabotaging his administration and running him out of office. A Sebastian County circuit judge threw out the lawsuit in 2014.

At the outset of her campaign, Boyd’s stated goal was to block Blevins’ nomination because of the female employees’ harassment complaints. She even initially named her website “timesupkenblevins.com.”

More recently, Boyd said she believes getting tougher on drugs will help relieve crowding in the county jail and the high number of foster children in the county.

She said she is an advocate of a drug market intervention technique in which federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, along with faith-based and social service organizations, work together and approach the most serious drug offenders to give them the chance to give up their drug activity and avoid prosecution in court. In some places, she said, the technique has led to a decrease in the crime rate.

Using drug market intervention in Sebastian County, along with the continued use of drug and veterans courts, would help reduce crowding in the county jail, she said.

County officials have wrestled with county jail crowding for years. They are considering expanding the jail but can’t find the money in the county’s budget to pay for additional jailers.

Blevins is unconvinced that, with a nearly $43 million annual budget, the county cannot find $700,000 to hire 14 additional jailers needed to staff an expanded jail.

The key issues in Boyd’s campaign are saving Americans’ lives, taking a new approach to safety and economic growth, she said. Her website said she is a founding member of the River Valley Economic Council.

She said county buildings should be secured with one entrance and exit to make them safer.

The Sebastian County Quorum Court passed an ordinance last week appropriating more than $111,000 to secure entrances at the county courthouse downtown and at the annex building, including installing new doors and metal detection machines and adding two part-time security deputies.

During her campaign, Boyd said, she has been knocking on voters’ doors, speaking at forums in Greenwood and before the Farm Bureau, and participating in panel discussions.

She said people have told her they are concerned about the large number of Sebastian County children living in foster homes. She said that high number is directly related to the large number of drug arrests in the county.

Reducing drug crimes will help reduce the number of children in foster care, she said, and she pledged that she will work with the schools, churches, community leaders, law enforcement officers and others to curb the amount of drugs on the county’s streets.

Blevins said he did not believe the people in south Sebastian County are as concerned about such issues as the opioid crisis as Boyd is.

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