Supporters of the Saline County Library attend the county quorum court meeting on May 18, 2026. | Arkansas Advocate photo by Tess Vrbin
By TESS VRBIN | Arkansas Advocate
Saline County voters will decide in November whether to cut about one-third of the operating budget for its three library branches.
The county’s all-Republican legislative body voted by a 10-2 vote Monday to put the measure on the ballot, two years after County Judge Matt Brumley, also a Republican, rejected a similar citizen-led effort on technicalities.
The Saline County Library currently receives 1.7 mills, or $1.70 for every $1,000 of assessed property tax in the county of more than 131,000 people. Three quorum court members proposed reducing the millage to 1.1, citing a population increase of more than 50,000 since the current millage rate was set in 1998.
Monday’s quorum court meeting saw much public opposition to the ordinance, which would reduce library funding by about $1.4 million.
“Before you cast this vote, ask yourselves: Will you be remembered as leaders who strengthened opportunity for future generations, or as the officials who crippled a public library system for the price of a few Happy Meals [per taxpayer]?” said Richard Harris, one of the dozen Saline County residents who spoke against the measure.
The effort to slash the funding is the latest in an ongoing fight over libraries that’s included moves at the state and local level to restrict access to certain materials.
Many audience members, including Harris, wore T-shirts to Monday’s meeting that said “Support your local library,” created and distributed by the Saline County Library Alliance. The nonpartisan group formed in 2023 when the quorum court urged the library’s then-director, Patty Hector, to keep LGBTQ+ books out of children’s reach. Hector refused, and Brumley fired her later in 2023 after the quorum court passed an ordinance giving him power over the library.
Hector sued Brumley and the county last year, alleging her firing violated her First Amendment right to free speech. The case will go to trial in July.
Justice of the Peace Pat Bisbee, who voted against allowing Brumley to fire Hector, was one of the two votes against the library funding cut on Monday.
‘Why are y’all even considering this?’
Justice of the Peace Clint Chism, who also voted against the measure, said he stands by his 2023 statements that the library needed to “protect the children” from certain library content. But Chism said he also understood the library’s importance.
Chism and Bisbee both said their constituents urged them to vote no.
“The question that I’ve gotten asked multiple times is, ‘Why are y’all even considering this?’” Bisbee said.
Other quorum court members and Brumley noted that the ordinance would not defund the library on its own but instead would let the public decide.
Justice of the Peace Jim Whitley said in 2023 that while he supported giving Brumley authority over the library, he would oppose any efforts to defund it. He voted for the ordinance Monday but reiterated his support for the library.
“There’s no other department in the county that has a massive budget surplus, and I think that the public deserves to know that,” Whitley said. “I don’t think anyone at this table would propose cuts in services to our county library.”
Mandy Hillis offered a counterargument while speaking against the ordinance.
“When you find yourself with a surplus in business and growth, you don’t seek to lessen your income,” Hillis said. “You seek to save, you seek to build and expand. You look toward what’s coming in the future five [or] 10 years out.”
Justice of the Peace CJ Engel said he believed the library budget will “get right back to where it was before” since county property values are likely to increase when they are next reassessed.
Two citizens said they agreed with this argument while speaking in favor of the ordinance.
“Our tax base has exploded, and it’s about to get a lot bigger when Buc-ee’s comes in,” said Tim Cain, referring to the convenience store set to open in Benton in August.
Saline County latest battle over library funding
Saline County has been a primary battleground over libraries’ funding and content in the past few years. Other counties have seen proposed library funding cuts with varying outcomes.
Garland County’s judge rejected a proposed reduction that a group of residents tried to put on the 2024 ballot, and Lawrence County voters rejected an effort that year to cut library funding in half.
Craighead County libraries lost half their funding via a conservative-backed ballot measure in 2022.
The Saline County Republican Women spearheaded the 2024 attempt to reduce the county library’s millage to 0.9 mills, and a supporter cited concerns about books with “sexual content or imagery” not being kept out of children’s reach.
Saline County’s move comes as the state is accepting feedback on a proposal to withhold funding from libraries that don’t restrict access to “sexually explicit content.” A federal judge in 2024 struck down an Arkansas law that would have imposed criminal penalties on librarians for providing “harmful” materials to minors.
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