Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — July 3, 2025 — Members of the community gathered Wednesday for a town hall hosted by a Craighead County Quorum Court member and a Jonesboro City Council member to discuss how city and county governments can work together.

Taking place at Native Brew Works, it was hosted by Garrett Barnes, Craighead County Justice of the Peace for District 2, and Jonesboro City Councilwoman Ann Williams, Ward 3, Position 1. The two officials discussed how Craighead County and Jonesboro governments, through Arkansas’s Interlocal Cooperation Act, can solve issues affecting the community together.

The act allows local governments to cooperate with other localities “on a basis of mutual advantage” that best benefits the communities.

Two issues discussed at length were mosquito control and the overcrowding issue at the Craighead County Detention Center.

In attendance was Brian Richardson, chief administrative officer for the City of Jonesboro, who said the city partnered with Arkansas State University, in which interested residents place mosquito traps in their yards. According to a news release from A-State, last year’s effort resulted in the collection of 82,129 mosquitoes.

He added that other city initiatives, such as Neighborhood Cleanups and bulky junk cleanup efforts, have helped lower mosquito populations.

Barnes said an appropriation fund could be worked into the county’s operating budget, specifically for mosquito control. He added that in the future, he’d like to work with the city on a concurrent committee regarding mosquito control in the county’s budget.

“I’m guilty of this past December, voting for our budget that had zero dollars line item for mosquito control,” Barnes said. “That’s something I need to do a better job at to make sure procedurally I’m staying sharp on bringing that question to the table. Because I don’t want to agree on another county operating budget that doesn’t have a dime of your part of the line item for mosquito control.”

Williams and Barnes said both their governments would continue to work to find more solutions for mosquito control.

Attendees also asked what future plans were regarding the Craighead County Detention Center’s overcrowding issue. A 0.5% sales tax to fund either the construction of a new jail or expansion of the current one went before voters in the 2024 election but failed.

“It’s probably in the top three biggest issues that we have in Craighead County,” said attendee and former Jonesboro mayoral candidate Jeremy Terrell. “Our judges cannot do their jobs when it comes to criminals because we have no place to put them.”

Barnes replied that there may be conversations regarding the overcrowding issue he was not aware of, but if a line item were to be placed in the county 2026 operating budget, future town halls determining what the public wanted to see would need to happen.

He added that in the meantime, improved community policing could help. He praised JPD’s community initiatives, such as its D.A.R.E. program and Citizen Police Academy.

“I think if you get back to focusing on those methods and community policing, I do think that will help,” Barnes said. “Instead of being so fixated on being tough on crime, I think we need to start making it how we can smart on crime.”

Other issues discussed were school funding, benches at Jonesboro Economical Transportation (JET) bus stops, the upcoming MLK Freedom Trail, and funding for bridge repairs.

Watch the full town hall here.