By Don Hall
News-Leader staff
On Monday, Nov. 3, Howard County Judge Brent Pinkerton announced that he was running for re-election.
As most of you know, a “county judge” in Arkansas doesn’t wear robes and sit behind a desk in a courtroom. The judge might have an office in the courthouse, but Judge Pinkerton’s courtroom is a white Chevrolet truck with the Howard County logo on the doors.
“Every morning, when I see that logo, it reminds me of who I work for. At the end of the day, when I get out and close the door and see the logo, it reminds me again of who I work for. It’s a very humbling experience.”
Just what does a county judge do?
“This job is to be the CEO of the county,” Pinkerton said. With an operating budget of almost $4 million, he’s in charge of the 20-25 employees of the road department and four more in the sanitation department.
The upkeep and maintenance of all of the heavy equipment, as well as maintaining the courthouse, county health unit, Senior Adult Center, and any other county-owned property is his responsibility as well. It’s a big job.
And a big part of Pinkerton’s job is to travel the roads of the county to make sure that they’re in good repair.
“People have one road that matters to them,” says the judge. “I understand that. And their road matters to me, but so does every other road in the county.”
Roads are expensive. State aid is a division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Each year, the state turns back tax dollars to counties to pay for qualified projects.
“For the last 15 years, we’ve received between $95,000 and $225,000 each year for state aid projects,” Pinkerton said. The county can let that money accumulate over a few years to pay for big projects.
When Judge Pinkerton took office, Howard County’s state aid fund had been completely depleted.
“I’m in year three of my first
four-year term in office. This year I had enough money through state aid to do a road project in Howard County. We did a resurfacing of 3.2 miles of Bright Star road from Tollette to the Schaal road intersection. Total cost was about $440,000.”
“This coming year we’ll spend more money on paving than we have in a long time,” the judge adds. «$1.1 to $1.2 million. We›ll be doing not entire roads, but sections.” County money will be used to repair roads near Umpire, Buck Range, and between Saratoga and Columbus.
In addition to the road projects, the county, over the last three years, is staying ahead of future needs. “I listen to people. They want their roads graded more often.”
With the arrival of a new grader that’s on order, the county will have five graders working daily whenever the weather permits. The goal is to keep the roads in good shape, and rural residents will see graders more often on their gravel roads.
The county has also replaced 40% of its dump trucks, added a second side-arm bush hog, and is planning to purchase a knuckle boom truck in the coming year.
A big “Thank You” from Judge Pinkerton goes out to the people of Howard County for making purchases like those possible. For several years, Howard County residents paid a special sales tax to pay for the new Howard Memorial Hospital That tax was scheduled to end, but Howard County residents voted to extend it to benefit the county and the towns in Howard County.
Because voters approved the continuation of the hospital sales tax, “Howard County and every municipality will receive extra revenue that they haven’t had in the past,” the judge said. The County’s portion alone will be about $1 million each year.
Other notable achievements for Howard County over the last few years include the addition of six hangars at the airport, paid for primarily by state grant money, that are now producing $20,000 of income annually.
More importantly, by providing hangar space and increasing the number of aircraft based at Howard County Airport, the county will be receiving, starting in 2026, $150,000 dollars yearly from the Federal Aviation Administration for maintenance and improvements at the airport.
“We’ve reached out to the state aeronautics commission to see if we could get a grant for another couple of hangars, a storage building, and a pilot’s lounge,” Judge Pinkerton said. The pilot’s lounge would give cross-country travelers, in private or corporate aircraft, a place to rest for a while before continuing their flight.
What would you like the voters of Howard County to know about your three years in office and about your candidacy for re-election?
“Thank you for the opportunity to be the Howard County Judge. It’s been a privilege to serve. We’ve gotten a lot done together, but there’s a lot more that we can do.”
