Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – A committee made up of Jonesboro police officers, firefighters and 911 dispatch personnel has launched a petition drive asking voters to approve a sales tax increase dedicated to public safety.

An initiative petition form that would be used to collect signatures asking the Jonesboro City Council to place the proposal on the Nov. 3, 2026, general election ballot was filed Wednesday with the Craighead County Clerk’s Office.

The proposal calls for an additional 5/8-cent (0.625%) city sales and use tax dedicated to “public safety services, initiatives, facilities, infrastructure, maintenance and operations.”

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The petition effort is being led by Safety First for Jonesboro, a newly formed ballot committee made up of local public safety professionals. According to a news release from the committee, Jonesboro Professional Firefighters Association President Matt Garrett is serving as chairman, Chris Nugent as treasurer, Shay Racy is leading police outreach and Jason Dyck is coordinating outreach for the city’s E-911 dispatchers.

If approved by voters, committee members say the tax revenue would be dedicated exclusively to Jonesboro’s police, fire and E-911 dispatch services. The committee says the money would help fund construction of a new police station, new fire stations and the hiring of additional police officers, firefighters and dispatchers. While the Jonesboro City Council would appropriate the revenue, state law would limit the funds to the public safety purposes outlined in the proposal.

Garrett said the committee believes the city is facing growing recruitment and retention challenges across all three departments.

| READ MORE: Jonesboro City Council Approves Police Officer Recruitment Incentives

The petition drive will require 3,592 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. That represents 15% of the votes cast in the last Jonesboro mayoral election. According to Craighead County Clerk MaryDawn Marshall, 23,947 ballots were cast in the 2024 mayoral race.

Marshall’s office received an email shortly before noon Wednesday from Little Rock attorney Michelle Allgood advising that a representative of Safety First for Jonesboro would be filing the initiative petition later in the day.

Later Wednesday afternoon, Craighead County Attorney Kimberly Dale notified Marshall’s office by email that she had reviewed the draft initiative and determined it “appears to be sufficient.”

In announcing the campaign, Garrett said the committee wants the decision to rest with Jonesboro voters.

“This is about giving Jonesboro voters a direct, transparent say in the safety of their own community,” Garrett said. “Before anything changes, our neighbors deserve the chance to decide for themselves whether investing in the people who respond when they call 911 is worth it.”

The committee said the effort follows similar public safety sales tax initiatives approved in recent years in Paragould, Fort Smith, Conway and Maumelle.

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver issued the following statement about the initiative:

“Nobody knows more about what our first responders need than them, if we want to guarantee we have the resources necessary for a continued safe community, then we are going to have to join together to fund it.

“I applaud their grassroots effort of taking this conversation directly to the people and their passion for service. I will proudly support any effort that focuses on keeping our community, and our first responders, safe.”

UPDATE: This story was updated to include a statement from Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver.

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