4 News
THE POLK COUNTY
November 22, 2023
From the
State House of Representatives
While the convenience of economy. These businesses often reinvest in the comdepartment stores and online shopping is undeniable, munity, helping to create jobs and contribute to the we’d like to take this time to encourage you to incoroverall economic well-being porate shopping locally this of your area. In fact, studies holiday season. show that 68 cents of every John Maddox Saturday, November 25, dollar spent at a small busi2023, is Small Business Satness stays in the community. urday – a day to celebrate and sup- In addition, every dollar spent at a port small businesses and all they do small business creates an additional for their communities. 48 cents in local business activity as Small businesses are the lifeblood a result of employees and local busiof our communities, and by choos- nesses purchasing local goods and ing to support them, we can make services. a significant positive impact on our Small businesses are often famistate’s economy, as well as create a ly-owned or operated by your neighmore vibrant and diverse shopping bors, friends, and fellow community experience. members. By shopping at these local A small business in Arkansas is de- establishments, you not only support fined as those with less than 500 em- their livelihoods but also create a ployees. There are more than 264,000 stronger sense of unity and connecsmall businesses in Arkansas. Small tion within your town or city. They businesses make up the majority of also offer a treasure trove of one-ofbusinesses in the state. More than a-kind products that you won’t find 47% of all Arkansas employees work in larger stores. for a small business. Your small purchase this holiday When you shop at small business- season can make a big difference. es, your dollars stay within the local
Contact Your Legislators!
John Maddox
John Boozman
john.maddox@ arkansashouse.org 520 Church Avenue Mena, AR 71953 Call: 479-394-6060
1120 Garrison Ave. Suite 2B Fort Smith, AR 72901 Phone: (479) 573-0189 Fax: (479) 575-0553
Terry Rice
Bruce Westerman
Terry.Rice@senate.ar.gov P.O. Box 2195 Waldron, AR 72958 479-637-3100
101 Reserve St. Suite 200 Hot Springs, AR 71901 Phone: (501) 609-9796 Fax: (501) 609-9887
From the
State Senate
Pulse
Law enforcement is preseal, mental health commitdominately a duty of local ments and juvenile records. governments, and the overThe records include results of whelming majority of police background checks that are officers in Arkansas work for used for handgun permits, cities and counties. and certain records of domesHowever, state government tic violence. does have 1,299 employees ACIC manages the sex ofTerry Rice in the Department of Public fender registry. The names are Safety. There are 897 people working submitted by local, state and federal for the State Police. The Division of law enforcement agencies. However, Emergency Management has 88 em- ACIC is responsible for documentaployees. tion, record retention and tracking of The state Crime Lab has a staff of registered sex offenders. 140, the Commission on Law EnSome of the hardware used at ACIC forcement Standards and Training has is almost 14 years old and in need of 38 employees and the Arkansas Crime replacement. The agency is working Information Center has 43 employees. with the Division of Information SysThere are 93 employees whose work tems to upgrade its technology. is shared by the other divisions. Their The database of people’s criminal duties are administrative, for example, histories is available to local law enthey work in information technology, forcement officers, but not to the pubhuman resources and writing grant lic because it is exempt from the open applications. records requirements in the Arkansas The Crime Information Center Freedom of Information Act. Howev(ACIC) is one of the most important er, sex offender information is public. agencies in law enforcement, although Also, ACIC compiles crime statismany people are unfamiliar with it. tics that are available to the public. For Its primary duty is to operate a mas- example, every month in Arkansas besive data system for 250 law enforce- tween 500 and 700 guns are reported ment agencies in Arkansas. When stolen. The cumulative impact of that local officers take the fingerprints number may surprise people - at the of a criminal suspect, they look for end of 2022, more than 58,000 guns a match in a massive data base with had been reported stolen in Arkansas. prints submitted by the FBI, the NaFor comparison, at the end of 2022 tional Crime Information Center and there were a total of 11,821 motor vethe other 49 states. ACIC is responsi- hicles and 308 boats reported stolen ble for the entry of all Arkansas crimi- in Arkansas. nal files to the national system. One file maintained by ACIC is of The files contain much more than extreme value to law enforcement. fingerprints. They have lists of stolen It’s the file of 263 people who are not vehicles and metals of value for resale only prone to violence, but specifically or recycling. They have logbooks of prone to violence against police offithe sales of ephedrine and pseudo- cers. ephedrine, which are essential ingreThe legislature created ACIC in dients for making illegal drugs. 1971 and has updated its authority, Criminal history records include and many times since then has modpardons by the governor, orders to ernized its equipment and technology.
