As many as ten thousand people are expected to descend on Hillarosa ATV Park for the Mud Nationals which start March 30th and ends April 3rd. But Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton said, in response to questioning from one JP, “We’re going to give it our very best.”

At the midpoint of a 25-minute meeting, a general discussion of county issues included a sequence in which JP Jesse Henry asked the sheriff if he had enough personnel to ensure safety at the event. Singleton said he would be drawing on other area law enforcement agencies, including state troopers to do the job.

Earlier, the Hempstead County Quorum Court voted unanimously to hire a bailiff in its regular monthly meeting tonight. It has no particular candidate in mind, though, and discussion centered on the difficulties of recruiting and training a suitable applicant with Sheriff Singleton admitting that at present, “I can find nobody who wants the job. I’m going to have to send them to get them certified so that’s going to take three months, unless I can find somebody that’s certified, which that’s next to impossible.”

Even if a suitable applicant is found quickly, at best, that person would not be able to start taking the certification course until May, the course taking three months.

An agenda item pertaining to the Library Board was put off for the April meeting.

One JP observing that tip-off for the Arkansas-Gonzaga Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game started at 6:09, an adjournment vote was taken, which passed at about 5:25 pm.