Circuit judge candidate ineligible, lawsuit claims

A candidate for judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit, which covers Pulaski and Perry counties, does not have the required qualifications and should be removed from the ballot, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit targets Valerie Thompson Bailey, an Arkansas Department of Education attorney from Little Rock who registered as a candidate last week to challenge the incumbent, Circuit Judge Tim Fox, in the May 20 judicial elections.

Bailey does not meet the constitutional requirement that judges be licensed attorneys who have continuously practiced law for six years before taking office, the lawsuit by Kristen Hulse states.

Hulse is a “concerned voter” who has no connection to Fox, said attorney Jeff Priebe, who is representing Hulse with attorney Allison Allred.

Bailey said she is looking forward to presenting her side to a judge. After working for two federal judges, she said, she voluntarily allowed her license to be administratively suspended. She said she accepted the suspension at first because she had moved out of state, then, with her husband’s encouragement, she let the suspension continue while she raised their two children.

“I have been licensed in the state of Arkansas for 14 years. Unlike Judge Fox … I have never been investigated by any disciplinary agency,” she stated in an email. “I have a letter from the Office of Professional Responsibility confirming my clean record. Judge Fox has abused his office and that’s why I think the citizens of Pulaski and Perry counties deserve better.”

Fox, 56, declined to comment Monday. He was first elected in 2002 to the circuit judgeship, which pays $138,982 annually, and is seeking re-election to a six-year term. He made an unsuccessful bid for the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2010. He received his law license in 1981.

Bailey, 40, formerly of El Dorado, received her law license in 1999, but it was suspended Nov. 25, 2002, for failure to obtain required annual training, then subsequently for failure to pay her annual licensing fee, court records show.

The suspension was briefly stayed in 2005, but her license was not reinstated until Dec. 1, 2011, after she paid $2,240 in licensing fees and penalties. She went to work for the education agency three weeks later and earns $51,030 annually, according to the state’s Transparency Arkansas website.

The lawsuit states that the Arkansas Supreme Court’s rules of professional conduct do not allow Bailey to consider herself a licensed attorney for the nine years her license was suspended. Amendment 80 of the Arkansas Constitution requires a judicial candidate to be licensed for at least six years preceding the date of taking office.

For Bailey to be a valid candidate, she would have needed to have her license reinstated in 2009, because the next judicial term begins Jan. 1, 2015, according to the lawsuit.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/11/2014

Upcoming Events