A retired circuit judge from Sheridan, appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court after all of the Pulaski County judges recused, will hear arguments at 1 p.m. today about whether a Little Rock attorney is qualified to be a candidate for circuit judge.
John Cole was asked to take over the lawsuit filed last week that contends Valerie Thompson Bailey, a lawyer for the Arkansas Department of Education, doesn't meet the constitutional requirement for judge. Bailey has filed to run against incumbent Judge Tim Fox, first elected in 2002.
The hearing will be in Room 240 of the Pulaski County Courthouse in Little Rock.
The plaintiff, Kristin Hulse, has no connection to Fox, her lawyers say, but is concerned because Bailey's law license was suspended from 2002 through 2011 because she failed to complete required annual training.
The state constitution requires that a judge have been a licensed attorney for at least six years before taking office, and Hulse contends that means Bailey should have been reinstated by Jan. 1, 2009, to be a legitimate candidate.
But Bailey, through her lawyers, maintains that her license has been in good standing since she was licensed to practice law in September 1999.
There is no law, Bailey's attorneys state, that establishes that a failure to meet the requirement for continuing legal education is grounds for a complete loss of license, court filings show.
The legal education board also does not have the authority to take her license, with the power to suspend or disbar a lawyer reserved only for the Committee on Professional Conduct, they argue in a Tuesday filing.
Time is of the essence, according to state and county election officials named as Bailey's co-defendants, because they have to deliver ballot proofs to the printer by March 26 at the latest, court filings show. The election is May 20. The secretary of state and the election boards in Pulaski and Perry counties are defendants because they manage the elections.
All circuit judges recused at the request of Bailey, court filings show.
Bailey "does not believe it would be fair to put any Pulaski County judge in the uncomfortable position of deciding a matter directly affecting one of their colleagues in the Pulaski County Courthouse," her attorney Nicki Nicolo wrote. "Our client believes the parties should have the case decided by a judge without this particular and potential conflict of interest so that the decision will be free of any appearance of impropriety."
Metro on 03/19/2014