Washington County’s justices of the peace have declined to end a contract with the U.S. Marshal’s Service for housing federal inmates. The vote to maintain the arrangement ensures the Sheriff’s Office will continue to host federal detainees in the county jail.

A Washington County judge has ruled that certain materials in a lawsuit involving Fayetteville-based Slim Chickens may be kept confidential. The decision underscores the restaurant chain’s efforts to protect sensitive information in an ongoing dispute brought by a franchisee group.