Can an Arkansas quorum court give bonuses or longevity pay to county employees, county officers, or its own justices of the peace?

Plain-English summary

State Representative James Ratliff asked the Arkansas AG seven questions about whether a county quorum court (the county legislative body) can hand out bonuses or longevity payments to various recipients. The AG's bottom-line answers:

• County employees: Yes. Bonuses and longevity payments are permissible compensation under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1206(a), which expressly lists "a bonus or lump-sum payment" as part of the quorum court's compensation authority.
• County officers (the elected sheriff, county judge, clerk, assessor, etc.): Yes, but the bonus or longevity payment must be folded into the officer's "annual salary" fixed by ordinance under § 14-14-1204, and the total cannot exceed the statutory maximum salary.
• Justices of the peace giving themselves bonuses: No. Section 14-14-1205(c) caps quorum court members at per diem compensation and health insurance only. There is no statutory basis for any additional bonus or lump-sum payment to JPs.
• Longevity-pay timing for officers: Any longevity-pay arrangement must account for Amendment 55, Section 5 and Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d), which bar decreasing a county officer's compensation during a current term. A longevity scheme that effectively reduced an incoming officer's salary (because the previous holder had longevity credit) cannot take effect until after the next general election.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

The county-compensation statutes have been amended multiple times since 2016, including the salary minimums and maximums for county officers in § 14-14-1204. A current quorum court considering this question should check the current text rather than rely on the 2016 statute references.

Background and statutory framework

The four legal pillars of quorum-court compensation authority

The AG identifies four overlapping authorities for setting county compensation:

1. Amendment 55, Section 4 to the Arkansas Constitution: the quorum court "shall have the power to fix the number and compensation of deputies and county employees."
2. § 14-14-801(a), (b)(6): restates that quorum-court power in the county government code.
3. § 14-14-1206(a): "The quorum court of each county shall fix by ordinance the number and compensation of all county employees, including a bonus or lump-sum payment." (Emphasis added in the opinion.)
4. § 14-14-1203(a): "All compensation, including salary, hourly compensation, expense allowances, training expenses, and other remunerations, allowed to any county officer, district officer, county officer-elect, district officer-elect, or employee is made only on specific appropriation by the quorum court of the county."

Together, those provisions reflect a broad legislative view of "compensation" and explicit authority to include bonuses as part of it.

The compensation scheme for county officers

Amendment 55, Section 5 sets a different framework for county officers (sheriff, county judge, county clerk, circuit clerk, assessor, coroner, surveyor). Compensation is "fixed by the Quorum Court within a minimum and maximum to be determined by law." The General Assembly establishes the range in Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1204; the quorum court picks the number within it by ordinance.

Critically, an officer's "annual salary" under § 14-14-1204 is compensation for all services performed, which means a bonus or longevity payment must fit inside the annual salary cap rather than be added on top. The AG draws this conclusion from the statutory text describing the salary as covering all services.

Justices of the peace are different

Section 14-14-1205(c) is restrictive: "A justice of the peace shall not receive compensation as a county employee or deputy, nor shall any justice receive compensation or expenses from funds appropriated by the quorum court for any services performed within the county, other than as provided by this subchapter."

The subchapter authorizes only per diem compensation (a per-meeting allowance, capped by statute) and health insurance coverage. The Arkansas Supreme Court already struck down a county ordinance providing JPs with health-insurance benefits in Massongill v. County of Scott, 329 Ark. 98 (1997). The legislature later expressly authorized health insurance for JPs in response to Massongill. The AG reads that history as confirming that anything not expressly authorized by subchapter 12 is prohibited. A bonus or lump-sum payment to JPs falls into that prohibited category.

The Amendment 55 timing trap for longevity pay

Amendment 55, Section 5: county officers' compensation "may not be decreased during a current term." Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d) implements this by requiring any decrease to wait until January 1 following a general election held after the decrease is fixed.

The AG gives a concrete example: if an outgoing officer had a longevity payment baked into salary because of long service, and the quorum court introduces a longevity-pay schedule that would give an incoming officer (with less service) a smaller salary, that is a salary decrease that cannot take effect until after the next general election. Quorum courts that want to use longevity pay for officers must therefore plan around election cycles.

Common questions

Q: Can my county quorum court give all county employees a year-end bonus? A: Under this opinion, yes, provided it is specifically appropriated. Section 14-14-1206(a) expressly lists "a bonus or lump-sum payment" as compensation the quorum court can set.

Q: Can the quorum court give the county sheriff a $5,000 bonus on top of his salary? A: Only if total compensation stays within the statutory maximum for the sheriff under § 14-14-1204, and only if the bonus is rolled into the annual salary fixed by ordinance. The annual salary is the upper limit and is meant to cover all services.

Q: Can the quorum court vote itself a year-end bonus? A: No. Justices of the peace are statutorily capped at per diem compensation and health insurance. Anything else is prohibited under § 14-14-1205(c). Massongill v. County of Scott enforces this strictly.

Q: We want to add longevity pay for the county clerk. Can we make it effective immediately? A: It depends on whether the change would decrease an incoming clerk's compensation relative to the current officeholder. If yes, Amendment 55, Section 5 and § 14-14-1203(d) push the effective date past the next general election.

Q: Does this opinion limit hourly or shift-differential pay for county employees? A: No. The opinion concerns the legal basis for bonuses and longevity payments. Hourly pay, overtime, and other standard compensation models flow from the same broad quorum-court authority under § 14-14-1206(a) and § 14-14-1203(a).

Citations and references

Constitutional and statutory authority:

• Ark. Const. amend. 55, § 4, quorum-court power over employee compensation
• Ark. Const. amend. 55, § 5, county-officer salary range and no-decrease rule
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-801(a), (b)(6), (7), enumerated county powers
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-907(a)(1)(B), annual budget appropriation
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203, all-compensation provisions and timing rule
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1204, county-officer salary minimums and maximums
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1205, justice-of-the-peace per diem and insurance
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1206(a), bonus or lump-sum payment authority

Case:

• Massongill v. County of Scott, 329 Ark. 98, 947 S.W.2d 749 (1997), invalidating JP health-insurance ordinance as exceeding § 14-14-1205

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2016-072
October 4, 2016
The Honorable James Ratliff
State Representative
P. O. Box 791
Imboden, AR 72434-0791
Dear Representative Ratliff:
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE

This is in response to your request for an opinion on the following questions:

1. May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to employees of the county?
2. May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to county officials of the county?
3. May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to employees of the county based on longevity?
4. May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to county officials of the county based on longevity?
5. May the quorum court appropriate themselves a bonus or lump-sum payment?
6. Would an appropriation of a bonus or lump-sum payment by a quorum court for the justices of the peace violate Amendment 55? Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1205?
7. If the answer to question #4 above is in the affirmative, wouldn't an ordinance adopting a policy and/or appropriation ordinance to provide for longevity pay for county officials need to take into account Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d), which limits the timing for reduction of a county officials' salary? Would it be advisable for an ordinance adopting a policy and/or appropriation ordinance to provide for longevity pay for county officials to take into account Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d)?

RESPONSE

In my opinion, the answer to each of your first four questions is "yes" and the answer to your fifth question is "no." It is my opinion in response to your fifth and sixth questions that the appropriation of a bonus or lump-sum payment for justices of the peace in addition to the authorized per diem would be contrary to Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1205. The answer to each part of your seventh question is "yes," in my opinion.

DISCUSSION

I will group your questions together by subject matter because the applicable analysis and conclusions to the questions, as grouped below, are essentially the same.

Question 1: May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to employees of the county? Question 3: May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to employees of the county based on longevity?

State law vests quorum courts with broad authority to determine the compensation of county employees. This authority is found in at least four provisions. First, Amendment 55 to the Arkansas Constitution states that "the Quorum Court shall have the power to . . . fix the number and compensation of deputies and county employees[.]"

The quorum court's authority concerning county employee compensation is also reflected in the statutory enumeration of county powers, as follows:

As provided by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 55, Section 1, Part (a), a county government, acting through its county quorum court, may exercise local legislative authority not expressly prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution or by law for the affairs of the county. These powers include, but are not limited to, the power to:

Fix the number and compensation of deputies and county employees[.]

Another provision of the county government code similarly states:

COMPENSATION. The quorum court of each county shall fix by ordinance the number and compensation of all county employees, including a bonus or lump-sum payment.

Finally, the county government code states:

Appropriation Required. All compensation, including salary, hourly compensation, expense allowances, training expenses, and other remunerations, allowed to any county officer, district officer, county officer-elect, district officer-elect, or employee is made only on specific appropriation by the quorum court of the county.

These four citations make clear that the quorum court is the entity authorized to establish the compensation of county employees. The last citation, Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(a), also reflects the General Assembly's expansive view of the term "compensation."

With regard, moreover, to "a bonus or lump-sum payment," the above-emphasized Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1206(a) plainly shows that these particular payments are permissible "compensation." The answer to your first question is therefore clearly "yes." The quorum court may appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to county employees.

It is my further opinion, in response to your third question, that the appropriation of a bonus or lump-sum payment to county employees based on longevity (i.e., the number of years of service) would be permissible. I believe this conclusion follows from the expansive view of "compensation" reflected by Ark. Code Ann.
§ 14-14-1203(a), coupled with the absence of any prohibition in either the constitution or statutes against longevity pay for county employees. It should be emphasized that the payment of a bonus or lump sum as part of a county employee's compensation must be authorized by specific appropriation; specific appropriations may be enacted through the adoption of an annual budget. Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-907(a)(1)(B) (Repl. 2013).

Question 2: May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to county officials of the county? Question 4: May the quorum court appropriate a bonus or lump-sum payment to county officials of the county based on longevity?

Under Amendment 55, "[c]ompensation of each county officer" is to be "fixed by the Quorum Court within a minimum and maximum to be determined by law." That is, the General Assembly is to establish a range within which county officers' compensation must fall; and the quorum court will set the county officers' compensation within that range.

This compensation scheme with respect to county officers is further reflected in the county government code:

As provided by Arkansas Constitution Amendment 55, Section 1, Part (a), a county government, acting through its county quorum court, may exercise local legislative authority not expressly prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution or by law for the affairs of the county. These powers include, but are not limited to, the power to:

Fix the compensation of each county officer within a minimum and maximum to be determined by law[.]

The "minimums and maximums" for county officers are found in Ark. Code Ann.
§ 14-14-1204. This statute establishes "minimum and maximum salaries per annum." It provides that the quorum court "shall fix by ordinance the annual salaries of the following county officers" within the stated ranges, and it further specifies that the annual salary shall be compensation for all services performed.

It is thus clear that an elected county officer cannot receive compensation above the maximum annual salary applicable to his position. In my opinion, the "annual salary" might include a bonus or lump-sum payment, including such a payment based on longevity. There is no general proscription against additional compensation for elected county officials, such as that pertaining to members of the quorum court (discussed below). But I believe the payment would need to be part of the fixed "annual salary," that is, the salary that is fixed by ordinance pursuant to section 14-14-1204. As noted above, the officer's fixed salary is in compensation for all services. This indicates that the fixed salary must include all compensation. And of course, as also noted above, the annual maximum cannot be exceeded.

Question 5: May the quorum court appropriate themselves a bonus or lump-sum payment? Question 6: Would an appropriation of a bonus or lump-sum payment by a quorum court for the justices of the peace violate Amendment 55? Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1205?

Arkansas Code Annotated § 14-14-1205 specifically limits compensation and expenses to be provided quorum court members to that provided by subchapter 12 of chapter 14 of Arkansas Code title 14:

A justice of the peace shall not receive compensation as a county employee or deputy, nor shall any justice receive compensation or expenses from funds appropriated by the quorum court for any services performed within the county, other than as provided by this subchapter.

Subchapter 12 authorizes "per diem compensation" for members of the quorum court. This compensation is defined as "a per calendar day allowance, exclusive of allowable expenses, which shall be paid to a justice for attending meetings of the county quorum court." Subchapter 12 also authorizes health insurance coverage for quorum court members.

The authorization of health insurance benefits was enacted by the General Assembly in the wake of the Arkansas Supreme Court's invalidation of a county ordinance that provided such benefits for quorum court members. Citing section 14-14-1205, the Court held that the ordinance "and ones like it" are contrary to the state law restriction on quorum court members' compensation and expenses.

There is no provision in subchapter 12 allowing or providing for the payment of a bonus or lump-sum amount to quorum members in addition to the per diem compensation authorized by section 14-14-1205. I must therefore conclude, in light of the above statutory limitation and case law, that the appropriation of such a payment in addition to the authorized per diem is prohibited.

Question 7: If the answer to question #4 above is in the affirmative, wouldn't an ordinance adopting a policy and/or appropriation ordinance to provide for longevity pay for county officials need to take into account Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d), which limits the timing for reduction of a county officials' salary? Would it be advisable for an ordinance adopting a policy and/or appropriation ordinance to provide for longevity pay for county officials to take into account Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1203(d)?

Amendment 55 states that county officers' compensation "may not be decreased during a current term[.]" Arkansas Code Annotated § 14-14-1203 similarly provides in relevant part that "[a]ny decrease in the annual salary or compensation of a county officer shall not become effective until January 1 following a general election held after the decrease has been fixed by the quorum court of the county."

The answer to each part of the above question is therefore "yes." Consideration would need to be given to the timing of the inclusion of a longevity payment in a county officer's salary, in light of this prohibition against decreasing a county officer's salary or compensation during a current term. For example, inclusion of the longevity payment in the salary of an incoming office-holder would presumably be a salary decrease if the current salary included a longevity payment for a previous office holder with a longer period of service. The new longevity payment could not be effective in that case until after the next general election.

Sincerely,

LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General