Baxter County officials are moving forward with a plan to allocate funds from the sale of the old Health Department building to the coroner’s building project. An ordinance on the Quorum Court agenda for its Tuesday meeting proposes appropriating $215,000 from the Coroner’s Building Revenue Fund into the 2026 construction budget. The funds represent revenue from selling the former Health Department facility to Baxter Health.
If approved, the ordinance would mark the second appropriation toward the project this summer. In August, justices transferred $561,926.75 from the same fund, including $60,000 for engineering and architecture and the rest for construction.
The court is scheduled to convene at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Baxter County Courthouse’s second-floor courtroom, with County Judge Kevin Litty presiding. In total, justices are set to consider more than $1.8 million in appropriations across eight ordinances.
Included on the agenda is $1.49 million in reimbursable state and federal grants for Baxter County Airport improvements and an $18,000 appropriation for an underwater body recovery device for the coroner’s office.
The sheriff’s office has three separate funding requests: $30,896.50 to replace a totaled Dodge Charger, $45,000 from the Special Jail Fees Fund for vehicle purchases and small equipment, and $29,890.71 in fees, reimbursements, and donations collected in July. Among the July revenues is $21,011.25 in proceeds from sold vehicles, which will be allocated to building materials, supplies, and small equipment instead of vehicle replacement.
Justices will also hear from the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society regarding ongoing renovations to the Casey House, the county’s oldest structure. Built in 1858 by Col. Randolph D. Casey, the dog-trot cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It served as Baxter County’s first court and Mountain Home’s first post office. The proposed ordinance would allocate $5,000 to the Casey House Restoration Grant Fund, as approved by the county’s budget committee. Restoration work includes replacing the back porch, supported in part by the society’s “All A-Board” campaign, which allows donors to sponsor a replacement plank.
Another ordinance on the agenda would appropriate $3,752.56 from the Adult Drug Court Opioid Settlement Fund for the program’s grants-in-aid in 2026. Additionally, justices will correct a clerical error in a previous ordinance by amending an appropriation account number, a change labeled as non-substantive.
The court will also confirm fire department board appointments. Randy Coy is set to fill an unexpired term on the Norfork Volunteer Fire Department Board through October 2027, while John Vanderwerf and Debbie Rowland would be reappointed for terms expiring in August 2029. Russel Gillis is expected to join the Hand Cove Fire Protection District Board to replace Dan Alderman, with his term running through June 2027.
County Treasurer Jenay Mize and the budget committee will also deliver updates to the court, which will consider several committee-sponsored ordinances during the meeting.