The following statement concerning the former Egypt Fire Protection District territory in Lawrence County was released on Friday, it reads as follows: On Tuesday the Lawrence County Office of Emergency Services held a meeting with representatives from Lawrence County including the Lawrence County Tax Collector Stephanie Harris, Hoxie Fire Chief Chris Ditto, Egypt Mayor Don Scruggs and the Bono Fire Chief. Also involved in the meeting via conference call was Kendell Snyder, State Fire Coordinator. The meeting was concerning the future of the Lawrence County part of the former Egypt Fire District. In February of 2016 the Lawrence County part of the former district was declared inactive in accordance to Act 880 of 2011 by the Lawrence County Judge Dale Freeman. By doing this it allowed Act 833 grant money assigned to the former district to be divided by the State of Arkansas among the remaining fire departments in Lawrence County. According to state regulations on the Act 833 funding this money can not be transferred to another county. During the process of this our office was contacted by the Lawrence County Tax Collector’s Office and we were told that the Egypt Fire Protection District was still collecting a service fee of 25 dollars per year per resident that was added onto the property taxes. The Collector’s Office said that numerous complaints had been voiced by residents about this fee. The fee was enacted in the 1984 ordinance establishing the Lawrence County part of the former Egypt Fire District and must be removed by the Lawrence County Quorum Court. During the meeting Mayor Scruggs produced a contract between the former Egypt Fire Protection District and the Bono and Cash Fire Departments from 2007 turning their former district over to those departments for coverage. This contract was not signed by anyone in Lawrence County and no ordinance was passed in Lawrence County by the Quorum Court so this paperwork has no merit, this was forwarded to the county attorney. The former district consist of an estimated 110 residents in Lawrence County, for the past several years the Hoxie Fire Department has serviced this area with assistance from the Bono Fire Department. Our intentions are to have the Quorum Court remove the service fee from the property taxes and assign the area to the Hoxie Fire Department. The county attorney is in the process of drawing up the correct legal ordinances and these along with a public meeting will be presented at a future date. During our meeting Mayor Scruggs was ask what the former Egypt Fire Protection was doing with the service fee collected from Lawrence County residents since the fire department has not existed since 2007, his open response in the meeting was the money was being used to keep up the old building and truck and that equipment was being used by the Cash Fire Department. Cash Fire Department has never provided any coverage for the Lawrence County side of the former district, only Bono and Hoxie. Any reference to the 1984 Ordinance creating the Lawrence County part of the Egypt Fire Protection District can on be reassigned to another fire district by vote of the Lawrence County Quorum Court, not the Craighead County therefore it is our opinion that this so called contract is not legal. Fire Chief Chris Ditto from the Hoxie Fire Department stated his department has made the majority of response calls to the area in question in the last several years but added he appreciated the mutual aide provided by the Bono Fire Department in the past. Our statement simply says, our residents are paying a fee to the former Egypt Fire Protection District that does not physically exist anymore, funding from that fee has been used for equipment not used to service Lawrence County residents and therefore should not be collected. Any further changes to any district in Lawrence County should and will be done by the Lawrence County Quorum Court. It is our belief that these residence of Lawrence County will receive quality service from the Hoxie Fire Department in the Lawrence County section of the former Egypt Fire Protection District.