VIDEO: Saline County to pay $275,000 in settlement with fired library director Patty Hector

UPDATE: AUG 27, 2026

Saline County has reached an agreement in principle to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by its former library director, Patty Hector. She was terminated in 2023 after opposing book censorship efforts.

Under the proposed agreement, the Association of Arkansas Counties Risk Management Fund will pay $275,000 to resolve the case, and no taxpayer funds will be used to cover the settlement, according to a statement from Saline County Judge Matt Brumley. Read more below.

The settlement marks the end of a high-profile legal dispute that began after Hector was fired from her job on Oct. 9, 2023. Hector, a professional librarian with decades of experience, was terminated by Saline County Judge Matt Brumley after a months-long community debate regarding children’s access to books with LGBTQ+ and racial themes.

HOW IT STARTED

The dispute intensified in early 2023 when a group called the Saline County Republican Women began campaigning for the restriction and relocation of library materials that touched on race or LGBTQ+ themes. Although the Saline County Quorum Court passed a non-binding resolution in April 2023 recommending the relocation of such materials, Hector publicly opposed the measure, arguing that the efforts targeted marginalized communities and undermined the library’s mission.

TERMINATION

Because the Saline County Library Board supported Hector’s leadership and declined to fire her, the Quorum Court passed an ordinance in August 2023 transferring hiring and firing authority over library staff from the library board to the county judge. Brumley utilized this new authority to dismiss Hector less than two months later.

LAWSUIT

Supported by the ACLU of Arkansas, Hector filed a federal lawsuit in February 2025 against Brumley and Saline County, alleging that her firing constituted unlawful retaliation for protected speech under the First Amendment. The complaint sought a declaratory judgment, back pay, and compensatory damages for emotional distress and lost wages, while also challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance that stripped the library board of its personnel authority.

SETTLEMENT

In a statement released on August 27, 2026, Brumley announced the agreement in principle to resolve the litigation. Although the county continues to disagree with the allegations and was prepared to go to trial, Brumley noted that settling was the most responsible course of action to protect taxpayers from a lengthy and expensive legal battle.

Under the terms of the settlement, Hector will receive $225,000 in damages, and the defendants will pay $50,000 in attorneys’ fees. The total sum of $275,000 will be paid entirely by the county’s risk management insurance fund.

FULL SETTLEMENT STATEMENT

Brumley issued a full statement on the matter Thursday morning:

“The people of Saline County elected me to make tough decisions, take responsibility for those decisions, and look out for their interests. That includes protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring appropriate oversight of county departments including the Saline County Library. The Quorum Court passed legislation to ensure the county judge has oversight of the library and is ultimately accountable to the people of Saline County.

After consulting with the advisement of legal counsel, I have reached an agreement in principle to settle a lawsuit filed by the former county library director arising from her termination. The County disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit and was prepared to go to trial.

I ultimately determined the responsible decision is to resolve this matter rather than spend years in a costly legal battle at the expense of the taxpayers. Under the proposed agreement, no funds will be paid from Saline County taxpayer dollars. The Association of Arkansas Counties Risk Management Fund will pay $275,000 to the former library director and her attorneys, and the lawsuit will be dismissed.

I am confident in the continued success of our Saline County Library while maintaining the highest level of stewardship and accountability to those we serve.”

SOURCES OTHER THAN MYSALINE

ACLU sues on behalf of librarian fired after opposing book censorship effort | US news | The Guardian – URL: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/03/librarian-arkansas-book-censorship
An Arkansas county’s voters will decide whether to slash library funding by $1.4M – Mountain Home Observer – URL: https://mhobserver.com/an-arkansas-countys-voters-will-decide-whether-to-slash-library-funding-by-1-4m/
Following contentious quorum court meeting, Saline County voters to decide on future of library’s funding – Arkansas Times – URL: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2026/05/18/following-contentious-quorum-court-meeting-saline-county-voters-to-decide-on-future-of-librarys-funding
Former Saline County library director files lawsuit claiming she was unlawfully fired – URL: Hosted on https://katv.com/
Hector v. Brumley – ACLU of Arkansas – URL: https://www.acluarkansas.org/cases/hector-v-brumley/
Federal Court Case Filing (Justia) – URL: https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/arkansas/aredce/4:2025cv00091/146471/14/0.pdf?ts=1761050847
Saline County, AR Quorum Court May 2026 – URL: The YouTube transcript is linked to the meeting recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E8La7oPVD4

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UPDATE: OCT 9, 2023

Several local residents are saying that Patricia “Patty” Hector was fired this morning from her position as Director at the Saline County Library. A statement from the Saline County Judge’s Office confirms it. Trevor Villines, Communications Director for Saline County, answered a text from MySaline, with the following statement: “Patty Hector is no longer employed by Saline County or the Saline County Library.”

READ MORE BELOW

Villines went on to say that Leigh Espy has been named interim director. An immediate search is underway for a new library director.

This new development isn’t a surprise for people who have been following the county news since Spring 2023. That is the first time the Saline County Quorum Court officially addressed the matter of books that were deemed inappropriate for the children’s section of the Saline County Library’s shelves. A political group that is a splinter from the Republican party, brought the idea to the Quorum Court that they should do something about several books they found. This was a very similar effort to something that recently happened in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

READ MORE BELOW

VIDEO: Saline County Quorum Court meeting April 17, 2023

In the April 2023 meeting (video above), Justice of the Peace Jim Whitley (R-Dist 10) sponsored a proposed Ordinance. This would require the library to move books from the children’s section if they are inappropriate for children. Along the way, there have been several public comments in Quorum Court meetings from county residents on both sides of the issue. There has been much discussion about it on social media. A group called Saline County Library Alliance (SCLA) formed to defend the library.

The original group that approached the quorum court – Saline County Republican Women (SCRW) – began blitzing the public with images from the books. Among the many images were gay parents from one book, a black grandfather teaching his grandchild about racism in another, and also some “how-to” sex books and one that was fictional but included instruction about sex acts. Some of the posts with images were attempted by SCRW on the MySaline Facebook group, but Facebook itself took the posts down.

These are not all the books that were on the SCRW list, but it’s a post from Spring 2023 with several. It’s posted here as a screenshot instead of an embed, in case their post is taken down.

SCRW then created a website to host the images of the books they deem inappropriate. Then they rented a billboard on the side of Interstate 30 in Benton to advertise the website. One billboard message read “Warning: X-RATED Library Books SalineLibrary.com” Another message called for the Library Director’s job. “Director Hector MUST GO.”

Library board members began resigning from their position. Library employees confided that they were afraid for their family, home and property. The Saline County Judge and Quorum Court stayed focused on the issued of keeping inappropriate books out of easy access to children. Judge Matt Brumley, JP Rick Bellinger, JP Clint Chism and others stated publicly that they did not want to close the Library, defund the Library or ban any books. But they wanted the books to move to a section where they weren’t easily accessible to children. It was never said publicly which books were considered inappropriate or who would decide if they were.

Meanwhile, Library Director Hector stated that she would not move any books. “Moving books is banning books,” Hector stated several times in interviews.

The County Judge and Quorum Court brought it to a vote to decide if the SCL hiring and firing decisions should be under the direct authority of the Saline County Judge. An ordinance was passed in the August 2023 Quorum Court meeting to make it so. Judge Brumley stated that he would continue to work with Ms. Hector on the issue of inappropriate books. It has been several weeks and we heard this morning that Ms. Hector was fired and they are looking for a replacement. View the previous articles and videos on this topic below.

The SCLA issued a news release on the matter of Ms. Hector losing her job on Monday. The statement included a note that the SCLA is working on a ballot initiative to “to strip the Quorum Court and County Judge of the ill-gotten powers they have granted themselves…”

The SCRW group has not yet made a public statement about Hector’s dismissal.