Editing Lincoln County, Arkansas (section)

==Government==
{{see also|County government in Arkansas|County judge|Quorum Court}}
The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the [[Constitution of Arkansas]] and the [[Arkansas Code]]. The quorum court is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all spending and revenue collection. Representatives are called ''justices of the peace'' and are elected from county districts every even-numbered year. The number of districts in a county vary from nine to fifteen, and district boundaries are drawn by the county election commission. The Lincoln County Quorum Court has nine members. Presiding over quorum court meetings is the ''county judge'', who serves as the [[chief operating officer]] of the county. The county judge is elected at-large and does not vote in quorum court business, although capable of vetoing quorum court decisions.<ref>{{ Cite encyclopedia |title= Quorum Courts |url= http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=6348 |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture]] |publisher= [[Butler Center for Arkansas Studies]] at the [[Central Arkansas Library System]] |date= March 24, 2014 |last= Teske |first= Steven |access-date= January 23, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{ Cite encyclopedia |title= Office of County Judge |url= http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5720 |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture]] |publisher= Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System |date= August 28, 2015 |last= Goss |first= Kay C. |access-date= January 23, 2016 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Lincoln County, Arkansas Elected countywide officials<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lincoln {{!}} Association of Arkansas Counties |url=https://www.arcounties.org/counties/lincoln/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.arcounties.org}}</ref><ref name=":1">https://www.arcounties.org/site/assets/files/6033/november_races.pdf</ref>
!Position
!Officeholder
!Party
|-style="background-color:#F48882;
|County Judge
|Buddy Lynn Earnest
|Republican
|-style="background-color:#F48882;
|County Clerk
|Stephanie James
|Republican
|-style="background-color:#999999;
|Circuit Clerk
|Cindy Glover
|Independent
|-style="background-color:#F48882;
|Sheriff
|Steve Young
|Republican
|-style="background-color:#999999;
|Treasurer
|Lisa McGehee
|Independent
|-style="background-color:#999999;
|Collector
|Melissa Bumpass
|Independent
|-style="background-color:#999999;
|Assessor
|Amy Harrison
|Independent
|-style="background-color:#F48882;
|Coroner
|Matthew Padgett
|Republican
|}
The composition of the Quorum Court following the 2024 elections is 4 Republicans, 3 Democrats, and 2 Independents. Justices of the Peace (members) of the Quorum Court following the elections are:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Lincoln County, Arkansas, elections, 2024 |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Lincoln_County,_Arkansas,_elections,_2024 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>

* District 1: Kip Dutton (D)
* District 2: Corey Dial (R)
* District 3: Brad Henley (R)
* District 4: Jeffery L. Frizzell (R)
* District 5: Drew I. Steed (I)
* District 6: Edwin Branson (D)
* District 7: Phillip Thomas (D)
* District 8: Bill Dowdy (R)
* District 9: Jax Gasaway (I)

Additionally, the townships of Lincoln County are entitled to elect their own respective constables, as set forth by the [[Constitution of Arkansas]]. Constables are largely of historical significance as they were used to keep the peace in rural areas when travel was more difficult.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a Constable? |url=https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/ced-blog/posts/2022/may/what-is-a-constable.aspx |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=What is a Constable? |language=en}}</ref> The township constables as of the 2024 elections are:<ref name=":2" />

* Wells Bayou: Jeff Branson (D)

===Politics===
Lincoln County historically followed the [[Solid South]] voting trend of strong support for Democrats. However, following the election of [[List of Governors of Arkansas|Arkansas Governor]] [[Bill Clinton]], the county has turned increasingly [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], including in state and local races.  Politically, the white-majority Lincoln County has transitioned from reliably [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] in presidential elections to steadily [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] since the election of [[Barack Obama]].

{{PresHead|place=Lincoln County, Arkansas|source=<ref name="DL">{{cite web|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|2,502|813|57|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|2,729|1,032|114|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,455|1,252|119|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,199|1,425|102|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,513|1,710|183|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|1,921|2,149|39|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|1,526|1,957|63|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|907|2,517|244|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,142|2,805|400|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|1,557|2,204|33|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|1,860|2,406|6|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|1,243|2,517|89|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|699|3,045|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|2,318|1,115|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|488|1,209|2,084|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|1,410|2,468|4|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|626|1,780|240|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|767|1,616|22|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|595|1,871|6|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|378|1,108|195|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|141|1,034|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|99|916|10|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|39|913|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|49|1,301|1|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|151|869|1|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|170|563|5|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|988|888|9|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|477|889|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|292|390|238|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|159|389|33|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|352|544|35|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|392|794|15|Arkansas}}
{{PresFoot|1896|Democratic|236|1,026|3|Arkansas}}

In [[United States Congress|Congress]], Arkansas has been represented by two Republican senators ([[John Boozman]] and [[Tom Cotton]]) since January 3, 2015, ending a long history of Democratic hegemony. In the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], Lincoln County is within [[Arkansas's 1st congressional district]] with many other agricultural Delta counties on the eastern side of the state. The district has been represented by Republican [[Rick Crawford (politician)|Rick Crawford]] since [[United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2010#District 1|2010]].

In the [[Arkansas State Senate]], Lincoln County is split essentially in half between north and south. The northern half is within District 25, which also includes most of Jefferson and Phillips counties and a small portion of Desha County. The district has been represented by [[Stephanie Flowers]], a Democratic lawyer from Pine Bluff, since January 2013.<ref>{{ cite web |title= State Senate District Map |publisher= Arkansas Board of Apportionment |url= http://www.arkansasredistricting.org/Websites/apportionment/images/adopted%20senate.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220141135/http://www.arkansasredistricting.org/Websites/apportionment/images/adopted%20senate.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date= December 5, 2016 }}</ref> The southern half of Lincoln County is within District 26, which reaches to the southeastern corner of the state. District 26 has been represented by [[Eddie Cheatham]], a Democratic retired educator from [[Crossett, Arkansas|Crossett]], since January 2013.

In the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]], Lincoln County is split among three districts. The western third of Lincoln County is within District 10, which includes parts of four nearby counties. District 10 has been represented by [[Mike Holcomb (politician)|Mike Holcomb]] since January 2013. Holcomb was initially elected as a Democrat, but switched to the Republican party in August 2015. The eastern third of the county is within District 12, which extends across Arkansas and Desha counties to include all of Phillips County. District 12 has been represented by Chris Richey, a Democratic pastor from [[Helena-West Helena, Arkansas|Helena-West Helena]], since January 2013. A small portion in northern Lincoln County, including Grady and Varner, is within District 16. The district contains the eastern half of Jefferson County, including the southeastern half of Pine Bluff, and has been represented by [[Ken Ferguson (politician)|Ken Ferguson]], a Democrat, since January 2015.<ref>{{ cite web |title= State House District Map |publisher= Arkansas Board of Apportionment |url= http://www.arkansasredistricting.org/Websites/apportionment/images/adopted%20house.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220141121/http://www.arkansasredistricting.org/Websites/apportionment/images/adopted%20house.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date= December 5, 2016 }}</ref> District 13 has been represented by [[David Hillman (politician)|David Hillman]] since 2013.

===Taxation===
{{See also|Taxation in the United States}}
[[Property tax]] is assessed by the Lincoln County Assessor annually based upon the fair market value of the property and determining which tax rate, commonly called a ''millage'' in Arkansas, will apply. The rate depends upon the property's location with respect to city limits, school district, and special [[tax increment financing]] (TIF) districts. This tax is collected by the Lincoln County Collector between the first business day of March of each year through October 15 without penalty. The Lincoln County Treasurer disburses tax revenues to various government agencies, such as cities, county road departments, fire departments, libraries, and police departments in accordance with the budget set by the quorum court.