Boyd and Blevins stay civil despite past tensions in debate for Sebastian County Judge

Former Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins may be running against fellow Democratic primary opponent Mosie Boyd on May 22 in the race for Sebastian County Judge, but he saved most of his digs in their Monday (April 30) debate for Judge David Hudson. Boyd went easy on Blevins’ controversial past, only making one reference to the harassment charges that led to Blevins’ 2012 primary defeat at the hands of Circuit Clerk Denora Coomer.

Boyd depicted herself as a “grass-roots candidate,” drawing a contrast with Blevins, whom she called “well-funded.” She also touted her history in serving as past chairwoman of the Sebastian County Democratic Party. Boyd emphasized a cooperative approach between the county judge, quorum court, Sebastian County departments, and other local community and business leaders. She urged Democratic primary voters to support the proposed millage increase of Fort Smith Public Schools, stating that education was important to “economic development, our national security apparatus, and maintaining a high skills workforce for businesses already in our area, as well as those who might relocate.”

Unlike Blevins, Boyd did not call out Judge Hudson by name, but she did highlight dispatch times as a “major problem” the county has. Citing talks she had with Greenwood EMT officials, Boyd said there can sometimes be as much as a “three- to five-minute delay time,” which “can be a substantial delay in the life of someone in need of critical care.” Improving that, she said, “needs to be our number one priority.”

Boyd and Blevins fielded one question about toll roads. Both were against. Boyd threw her support behind safe housing programs as a possible way to alleviate the county’s foster care problems.

“If you can help families get safe housing, children are 60-80% more likely to stay in school and not enter the foster care system,” Boyd said, adding that as an attorney, she had been “privileged to represent several grandparents in getting their grandchildren back from foster care, and one individual who succeeded in getting through drug court and getting his child back.”

Boyd favored recovery programs for individuals going through drug addiction. She and Blevins also praised the county’s existing Crisis Stabilization Unit, which opened earlier this year to serve individuals experiencing mental health issues (and their families).

On the topic of jail overcrowding, Blevins wasn’t sold the problem was as major as it’s made out to be, stating there are 358 detainment spaces and that inmate population is between 404-408 people per day.

“We are not at capacity. They’re counting people an entire day who are only in detention 4-6 hours, or if you’re brought in at noontime and you’re supposed to be there for five or six days, they’re going to release you on the seventh day and count that you were in there for seven total days. So they are not exceeding their capacity, but are close to needing to expand their space at some point.”

To do that, Blevins said the county is looking at its armory, where they might gain an increase of about 102 more detention spots to eliminate most of the issues.

“Four hundred sixty spots. That should take care of most of our problems.”

Blevins found common ground with Boyd on the efficiency of drug court and the need to invest more in monitoring for non-violent offenders.

THE HUDSON FOCUS
Of Hudson, Blevins said the county judge had been in the position “too long.” He faulted Hudson for much of the “bickering” that goes on between the Judge and “some quorum court members” at the group’s regular meetings. He blamed Hudson for not immediately addressing a damaged water tank in Mansfield.

“It took our county judge three weeks before he responded and provided the people of Mansfield an adequate supply of water,” Blevins said, adding that rural parts of the county have suffered from water pressure issues during Hudson’s multiple terms.

Blevins also said during his campaign for the May 22 primary, he encountered “several” other problems in the county, including EMS response times to rural areas. Blevins said he’d spoken to a woman with a broken back who had to wait four hours for an ambulance to arrive. Additionally, Blevins said the decision to close two rural fire departments was “probably a mistake.”

When asked why he’s running as a Democrat — Blevins served as a Republican when he was Circuit Clerk — he circled back to Hudson and the people who “idolize” him.

“The problem with the two-party system in Sebastian County is that it’s primarily just one party anymore. Look how many people are in office. Almost every single office right now is a Republican-held office. It’s not really hard to get elected as a Republican right now, and I didn’t want to have to run against David Hudson and suffer the ridicule by the party for daring to run against the great man that a lot of them idolize. He is the head of a lot of the stuff that goes on here, and it’s very hard to run against someone like that.”

In a previous interview with Talk Business & Politics, Blevins blamed Hudson for being behind the multiple accusations of sexual harassment made against him in 2011. The charges resulted in Blevins filing a lawsuit against Hudson, which he would eventually lose at the Arkansas Supreme Court in April of 2016. Hudson has refused to comment further on Blevins’ accusations.

Blevins said he had “no problem running as a Republican or a Democrat. When someone asks you to send an EMS or a fire truck, they don’t care whether or not the person in office is a Republican or a Democrat. They just want to make sure the fire truck or the EMS service actually comes and helps them.”

When Boyd initially announced her candidacy, she emphasized the importance of defeating Blevins and went hard after his past, which includes charges of harassment of former employees. At the end of Monday’s debate, she was asked to say something she admired about her opponent.

“I admire that Mr. Blevins is persistent,” was her one-sentence response.

In answering the same question, Blevins said, “Well, she hasn’t damaged any of my signs, and for an election, that really is a good thing to have. She’s a very agreeable person, from what I can tell.”