Ashley County Assessor Beth Rush is a Crossett native, which easily explains her self-proclaimed role as one of its enthusiastic cheerleaders.
This February, Rush will have spent the past 15 years working for the citizens of Ashley County, with 10 of those years as their assessor.
Rush said she graduated from Crossett High School in 1987, and before long she was performing accounting work for R&R Electric, employed by the company’s owner Jack Reynolds.
“I learned a lot working for Mr. Reynolds,” Rush said.
Rush said that in 1997 Reynolds and his partner opened up another business—CVI Warehouse—and put her in charge.
She continued to work for Reynolds until he and his partner decided to close the warehouse and the jobs that went with it, and sell the building.
Rush had worked for Reynolds for nearly 20 years. After CVI’s closure she had to find other employment.
“My father-in-law, Bob Rush, was the circuit clerk at the time, and he told me there was an opening in the county clerk’s office,” she said.
“I applied, went through the interview process, and I didn’t get the job, so I just continued to look for one,” Rush said.
“I don’t remember exactly how long it was after that interview—it was long enough that I had put it out of my mind—when I got a phone call asking me if I might still be interested in the position, and I ended up accepting the job,” Rush explained.
Rush said she was working with aspects of the voting process while in that position, and that she loved it.
One goal she worked towards was to provide a location in Crossett, in addition to the one in Hamburg, for the county residents that wanted to cast their votes at their own convenience. As a result, the early voting election option was opened in its Crossett location in 2010.
With the opening of the Crossett annex, the wheels in Rush’s head began to turn once more.
It was after all, Rush’s brainchild and a goal she had been looking to accomplish for those residents of Crossett.
“I wanted the residents of Crossett, or those who work here, to be able to do as much as they could here,” Rush said from her office inside the annex.
“It’s been on my mind for a while.”
The drive to the county courthouse and back during one’s lunch hour is not feasible for those attempting to address such issues that may come up when dealing with real estate and the like, Rush explained.
When she found out that most of the veterans in the county are located in Crossett, she said she realized that the veterans’ services office should also have a location here to better serve those who served their country.
While Rush had looked at other properties in Crossett to try to find the ideal location for what would become the Crossett Annex, she had not found what she felt was the best location.
Then she discovered the property at 303 Main St. was for sale, which led to a discussion with the owners of the building, and subsequently with real estate agent Dianna Martinie.
Rush did thorough research on the property before bringing the proposal to the members of the Ashley County quorum court.
Some of the benefits described to the justices of peace included the ability to make payments through a drive through window; the property being accessible from Main Street or the parking lot to the rear of the building for ease of access in addition to being handicapped-accessible; and of course the different county services being provided in a Crossett location for those who may have trouble getting to the courthouse.
The south end of the annex, where the main entrances are, is separated from the rest of the building by a set of large sliding wooden doors. The dark color of the doors contrasts nicely with the crisp white of the walls, and that theme is extended throughout the building.
Beyond those doors is a hallway that leads to a large room that Rush said will be able to be used for community functions, such as city hall meetings and when applicable, voting.
Rush hopes that the community will discover their own uses for the room, which will be able to be rented out to organizations or individuals who need a professional type of space to use for their functions.
That part of the building houses Ashley County Judge Jim Hudson’s annex office too, but that is not all.
The building’s kitchen is currently being installed at the end of the hall as well, which Rush said will expand the community room’s potential uses even more once it has been completed.
Rush said she has even suggested a quarterly meeting of the Ashley County quorum court at the annex building.
Although she has made it more convenient for the residents of Crossett to access those services offered by the county, Rush does not limit her desire to help to those living in her hometown. She has taken her role as assessor and serving all of the residents of the county to heart.
Rush’s dedication to serving the people of Ashley County was recognized in November by the Arkansas Chapter of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), as well as by the Arkansas Assessor’s Association (AAA).
Rush was presented the 2022 Outstanding Assessor Award by the IAAO Chapter President Jason Nichols at the annual awards banquet; Rush was also given the 2022 Kenneth Eddy Memorial Award by the AAA, which was presented to her by Sandra Cawyer, director of the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
According to the IAAO website, the awards presented recognize the county assessor who is actively involved in the assessment field, displays a willingness to help others, is making appositive impact on the industry, and is deemed the overall outstanding assessor in the state for that year, as voted on by chapter and association memberships.
The fact that her peers recognized her efforts was what got Rush emotional, she said of receiving the awards.
“That meant a lot to me,” she said when she recalled the experience.
Rush served as the president of the AAA for 2022. The AAA is a statewide professional organization comprised of locally elected, constitutionally authorized county assessors.
Before that, she also served as vice-president of the AAA, following a term as board secretary and two terms as the district 4 representative.
Rush wants the people of the county to get the best service possible, and she said that is why she requires that those individuals working within her office receive training related to their positions.
But she is not asking something of them that she does not already expect from herself.
Rush has gone above and beyond, earning designations past what is required for her office.
Since she took office as the Ashley County assessor in 2013, Rush has earned both her Level IV Senior Appraiser and Level IV Senior Administrator designations from the State Assessment Coordination Division of the Department of Finance and Administration in Little Rock and the IAAO.
In 2019, Rush accepted an appointment by Governor Asa Hutchinson to serve a second term on the Arkansas Graphical Information Systems (GIS) Board as the Arkansas Assessor’s representative.
As a result of her pursuit of knowledge related to her office and her professionalism, Rush was also awarded the prestigious Assessment Administration Specialist (AAS) designation by the IAAO.
Rush has other active professional memberships besides those with the local and national IAAO. She is also a member of the Arkansas Association of Counties (AAC) and the Southeast Arkansas GIS (SEAGIS).
Rush, along with her husband Reuben, are members of North Crossett First Baptist Church and have lived in Ashley County their whole lives.
Rush said that whenever she has free time, that she and her husband enjoy spending it with their five children, who are grown now, and their two granddaughters. She also likes to read, travel, and listen to music.
