Benton County Judge, Barry Moehring
Building on significant progress during his current term in office, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring is running for another four-year term. Moehring was first elected in 2016 and served a two-year term until being re-elected in 2018 to his current four-year term which began in 2019.
“It has been a great honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Benton County over the last five years,” Moehring said, “and with their permission I want to continue to build on the progress we’ve made.”
“We live in one of the fastest growing and most dynamic counties in the country,” Moehring said, “and that creates a unique set of challenges and opportunities.” Moehring referenced the latest US Census data that showed nearly 30% population growth in Benton County from 2010 to 2020, and an overall population of nearly 290,000, the second largest in Arkansas behind Pulaski County. Moehring credited his team at the County with much of the progress that has been achieved over the last few years. “One of my proudest achievements is developing and leading an outstanding professional team that has more than 100 years of combined experience in infrastructure, facilities, construction, emergency management, finance, information technology, human resources, communications, planning and veterans affairs,” Moehring said.
Accomplishments during Last Term
- Implementing a data-based pavement management system resulting in more than 220 miles of safer and paved roads built to more robust specifications.
- Implementing a five-year bridge improvement program that has reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges from 13 to two with those two scheduled for refurbishment within the next two years.
- Improving a wide variety of Benton County facilities ranging from improved Vote Centers, expanded Assessor and Collector offices, an expansion of the Road Department vehicle service facilities, and a soon-to-be-completed courthouse and parking expansion to accommodate the new Division Seven Benton County Circuit Court.
- Installing a new emergency radio system (AWIN System) so that law enforcement and fire agencies can work more closely with each other and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, and providing first responders in the field with much better and faster radio coverage in rural areas.
- Adding eight additional dispatchers and installing new mapping and systems technology to greatly improve Benton County’s 911 capabilities.
- Restructuring Benton County’s ambulance services adding eight additional ambulances in Benton County’s rural areas and smaller towns which dramatically improved response times while at the same time-saving taxpayers more than $500,000 in costs.
- Growing Benton County’s communications capabilities by hosting dozens of Town Halls, relaunching
the County’s website, expanding the County’s social media capabilities, and launching new communications tools so that citizens can communicate issues they are concerned about including county roads and environmental services. - More than doubling the number of veterans served by the Benton County Veterans Service Office to over 330 per month.
“I’m also proud that we’ve made these improvements within balanced budgets, no tax rate increases and keeping more than $20 million in our reserve funds. We live and govern in a conservative county and I work closely with our Benton County Quorum Court to keep costs in line and our county finances healthy. Our rapid growth means we’ll have to continuously evaluate and expand our county facilities and ramp-up maintenance on our roads and bridges. Keeping pace with growth will be a constant challenge for our infrastructure.
We live in a blessed and outstanding part of the state and country to build a career, raise a family, get a high-quality education or simply settle down. We get the honor to work on some very good problems here in Benton County!”
Family & Professional Background
My wife Cindy and I moved to Benton County on Valentines Day in 1999. We weren’t sure at the time how long we would stay but now we cannot imagine living anywhere else.
We’ve been married 30 years and have been blessed with three kids, all of whom attended Bentonville Schools and graduated from Bentonville High School. Our two sons went on to graduate from the United States Naval Academy and are now officers in the US Navy. Our daughter attends college at the University of Missouri.
It has been my honor to serve as Benton County Judge since taking office in January 2017. In this role I lead over 200 county employees and manage a budget of more than $25 million. The responsibilities of the county judge include overseeing the County Road Department, Planning and Environmental, Emergency Services and the County’s 911 Department, all county facilities and many of the internal departments such as Accounting, Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology.
Before becoming County Judge, I served two terms on the Benton County Quorum Court, and spent much of that time deeply involved in the County’s budgeting and finances.
I’ve spent nearly 25 years of my professional career in management and executive positions with some of the world’s best companies, including Motorola, Disney and Walmart.
I’ve had the opportunity to lead teams around the world and right here at home while managing large, complex budgets (in some cases ranging into the hundreds of millions of dollars) and operating in high-pressure environments.
He holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Arizona and have participated in many high performance executive education programs ranging from Stanford University to the Disney Global Leadership Institute and the Walton Institute Business Leadership Series.
I have participated in or belonged to numerous clubs and community activities including Rotary, the Northwest Arkansas Lightning Soccer Club, Babe Ruth Little League and the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County.
Although my kids have long since outgrown my skill level, my favorite community activities were coaching them in soccer, baseball and basketball. We are members of the First United Methodist Church in Bentonville.
