Carroll County Clerk Connie Doss said a proposed ordinance that sparked significant public pushback in Eureka Springs was never intended to shut down services, but rather to give her office more flexibility in how it operates.
“All this is is a simple appropriation, moving a position from one budget to another so that I can move anybody back and forth,” Doss said Thursday, March 26.
The proposed ordinance — which would have reclassified a deputy clerk position and transferred payroll funds between departmental budgets — was tabled by the Carroll County Quorum Court after drawing concern from Eureka Springs residents who feared it could lead to closure of the clerk’s office in the Western District Courthouse.
Doss said that reaction, while understandable, was based on a misunderstanding of the proposal’s intent.
“It’s not my first choice. It would not be my first choice to close it,” she said.
Instead, she said the ordinance was aimed at solving internal budgeting and staffing limitations that have made it difficult to efficiently manage employees based in separate locations.
“Unfortunately the payroll system that is set up doesn’t allocate very well between budgets,” Doss said. “If an employee is in one budget, that employee is in that budget.”
She added that the county’s current accounting software lacks flexibility.
“This program is just not as sophisticated as some in today’s market,” she said.
On Sunday, March 29, Doss said in a comment on a Facebook post that an employee had been hired and would begin training in Berryville the next day. Doss said the employee might be working in the Eureka Springs office by the end of the week, but would be in that office no later than Monday, April 6.
The bigger issue, Doss said, is a long-term decline in marriage license activity in Eureka Springs — a trend she has been tracking for years.
Doss said 5,124 marriage licenses were issued in Eureka Springs in 2001. Last year, that number was down to 888.
“That’s an overall drop of almost 83 percent,” she said.
More recent numbers show the trend has continued.
“Since 2018, we’re down 48.7 percent,” Doss said.
Doss said the “break-even point” is 2,250 licenses —a number she said has not been seen in the Eureka Springs office since 2012.
Doss said those declines have raised questions about where couples are obtaining licenses, with anecdotal evidence suggesting many are purchasing them outside Eureka Springs before traveling into the city.
“They’re coming in from Benton, Washington (counties), they’ll pick them up there and then go to Eureka,” she said.
That shift has left the Eureka Springs office with relatively low volume.
“In 2025, their average was about 75 licenses a month,” Doss said. “You can’t tell me that that’s paying bills for vendors. It’s certainly not paying the bill for the county.”
Doss emphasized that while county government is not designed to generate profit, it also cannot operate at a loss.
“We are not a revenue-making organization,” she said. “But we’re also not in the business of going into the red.”
The issue became more immediate earlier this year after the Eureka Springs office temporarily closed following a staff departure.
“That office hasn’t been open,” Doss said. “And we’ve handled everything perfectly fine here.”
Services have continued through the Berryville office, she said, with calls and emails routed accordingly.
“The phones are forwarded over here (to the Berryville office). Emails are forwarded,” she said.
Despite concerns raised publicly, Doss said the closure has not resulted in a measurable loss of business.
“Our numbers are steady. They’re consistent with what they were in 2025,” she said.
Still, she acknowledged the importance of maintaining a presence in the western part of the county, particularly for court-related functions.
“The circuit clerk and the court system, they do serve a purpose,” Doss said.
She also addressed confusion surrounding voter services, noting that voter registration remains available in the Western District Courthouse even when staffing is limited.
“Someone can give their voter registration to the county clerk’s employee, they file-mark it, and then it comes over here (to the Berryville office),” she said.
As for voting locations, she said state law limits options.
“It is not an ADA-compliant building,” Doss said of the Eureka Springs courthouse. “By state law we cannot have voting in a non ADA-compliant building.”
Ultimately, Doss said, the conversation is about balancing service with fiscal responsibility — even when that conversation proves unpopular.
“My job is to look after all of the taxpayers,” Doss said. “I have to look after everyone’s dollar.”
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