The Jefferson County Judge’s Office has refused to approve a claim for payment submitted by a Paragould law firm that represented seven members of the Quorum Court in their unsuccessful lawsuit filed by County Judge Gerald Robinson.
Robinson filed the lawsuit after the Quorum Court failed to adopt a procedural ordinance for 2023 which was required by state law and that a procedural ordinance adopted by those JP’s in June of 2023 was not legal. Robinson was awarded attorney fees from the seven who were also required to pay their own attorney fees.
A notation on the claim form signed by Rosetta Giddens, Robinson’s Chief of Staff, said that Jefferson County has 13 JP’s, not 7 and that the JP’s do not have the authorization to sign claim forms.
The total amount of the claim was $31,261.82 and was signed by JP’s Reginald Adams, Alfred Carroll, Melanie Dumas, Brenda Gaddy, Cedric Jackson, Reginald Johnson and Margarette Williams.
Each of the seven signed an authorization form March 26 and each listed the amount as $31,261.82 which could be interpreted as asking Jefferson County to pay a total of $218,832.74.
The bills begin in 2023 and continue through January of this year and list services primarily performed by Attorney Kimberly Dale
