Proposed ordinance on vicious animals advances on 1st reading by JPs

A proposed ordinance giving law enforcement officers greater authority to impound, restrain or kill vicious animals advanced unanimously after its first reading at the Carroll County Quorum Court’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The ordinance was introduced after Oak Grove resident Steffanie Gates urged the court in May to strengthen the county’s animal-control regulations. Gates received 32 stitches and underwent rabies treatment after she was attacked by three dogs while riding her bicycle April 16 on Arkansas Highway 221 South.

District 10 Justice of the Peace Jerry King, who sponsored the ordinance, referred to the attack during the Sept. 15 meeting.

“As you know, Ms. Gates was brutally attacked, and I just felt like an ordinance needed to be on the books here in Carroll County,” King said.

King said the proposal was based on an ordinance adopted in Madison County. The Carroll County version also includes a provision making it illegal to dump or abandon an animal.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit an animal owner from allowing an animal to be in a place or situation where it could injure or threaten a person.

A law enforcement officer with reasonable grounds to believe an animal is vicious, uncontrolled, unrestrained or a threat to public safety could impound the animal at the owner’s expense. An officer could kill an animal if attempting to capture it would pose too great a danger.

An owner would have 10 days to retrieve an impounded animal and pay the accumulated fees.

Otherwise, the animal would become the property of the impounding facility. An animal released to its owner would have to be muzzled or otherwise effectively restrained.

Officers also could require owners to post warning signs, construct enclosures or take other steps to protect the public. In some cases, the ordinance would allow officers to require a muzzle, chain, locked cage or an enclosure with an eight-foot fence, a buried concrete base and barbed wire.

Violations would be classified as unclassified misdemeanors and carry fines ranging from $50 to $500. Each day a violation continues would be considered a separate offense.

Owners also could be required to pay the cost of investigating a substantiated complaint and the cost of impounding or destroying an animal.

The ordinance would not apply to police dogs being used for law enforcement purposes or to municipalities that already have ordinances protecting residents from vicious dogs or exotic animals.

During the discussion, JPs noted that the proposal does not define the term “vicious dog.” Deputy prosecuting attorney Craig Parker said a definition could be added as a minor modification before the ordinance’s second reading.

All nine JPs present voted to advance the ordinance. Two members were absent.

In other business, the quorum court unanimously approved an emergency ordinance adopting a revised Carroll County Code of Ordinances. County Clerk Connie Doss said ordinances adopted since the county code was last compiled in 2014 have been added and that the revised code will be available online.

The court also approved an appropriation of $1,664.52 to allow county employee Ronda Griffin to receive pay for 60 hours of accrued vacation time instead of taking the time off. The total includes $1,353.60 in wages, along with Social Security and retirement matching costs.

JPs added two appropriation ordinances to the meeting agenda and approved both unanimously.

One ordinance appropriates a $300,000 Arkansas State Hazard Mitigation Grant for improvements to the County Road 625 crossing.

The grant will pay 75 percent of the estimated $400,000 project cost.

The county’s 25 percent share will be provided through in-kind labor and equipment use, according to District 2 JP Jack Deaton.

The second ordinance appropriates $82,953.84 in insurance proceeds to replace a Road Department tractor destroyed by fire.

District 6 JP Craig Hicks announced that the quorum court’s budget committee plans to meet each Thursday in October to prepare the county’s 2027 budget.

Deaton said the committee studying regulations for high-impact industrial developments will no longer accept public comments during its meetings. He said an opinion from the state attorney general’s office indicated public comments are not required because the committee does not make final decisions.

County Judge David Writer reported that the county’s 2025 legislative audit contained no significant findings related to accounting, budgeting, purchasing, investing or the handling of public funds.

The next regular meeting of the Carroll County Quorum Court is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the courtroom of the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville.