Cummings Lays Out Plans for County

RISON - While Cleveland County has enjoyed some better than expected financial numbers over the past few years, incoming County Judge Jimmy Cummings said that could be changing as the reduced population figures from the 2020 census may finally be showing up in reduced revenue for the county. Cummings, who currently serves as the county/circuit court clerk, will officially become the new county judge on Jan. 1. He will join other local officials for an official swearingin ceremony by Circuit Judge Hamilton Singleton at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 1, at the courthouse in Rison. This will be the first change in elected leadership for the county in 16 years. He will succeed Melody Spears, who was appointed as county judge in 2021 following the death of her husband, the late County Judge Gary Spears. Gary Spears, who died on Jan. 10, 2021, was in the middle of a four-year term at the time of his passing. He had held the office since Jan. 1, 2007, and was the longest-serving county judge in Cleveland County history. In an interview this week with the Herald, Cummings went over some of his goals and plans for the county as he begins his four-year term in January. At the top of his list was county finances. Cummings said he has been "evaluating" the county's finances since winning the county judge's race in November. It was from that evaluation that Cummings said he picked up on some revenue trends that seemed to have started a couple of months ago in October. "It looks like the money is starting to decrease now," Cummings said. "When I say decrease, there are certain monies tied to our population, and we're starting to see a result of the decrease of our census." According to the 2020 Census, Cleveland County's population fell from 8,689 in 2010 to 7,550, a decrease of 1,139 residents or about 13 percent of its population. Many federal and state programs are funded to local governments based on population. A loss of popul...