A circuit judge placed a temporary injunction on the runoff race for Dermott mayor Tuesday, just days after one of the candidates was arrested over accusations about her felony record.
Mary Frances Barnes, 56, was arrested earlier this month and charged with falsification of a political practices pledge, a Class D felony punishable by a maximum 12-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.
Chicot County Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Deen said Barnes has two prior felony convictions on her record.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Johnson issued the injunction after one of Barnes' opponents in the Nov. 4 general election -- Floyd E. Gray -- requested the action in a civil lawsuit filed Monday. Chicot County officials said Wednesday that the race remained on the ballot, but the results were not counted because of the injunction.
Barnes was set to face Clinton Hampton, to whom she lost by one vote during the general election, in the runoff race Tuesday. Both Barnes and Hampton defeated Gray and Lucan Hargraves Sr. on Nov. 4.
Complete and official results for that race were:
Hampton 241
Barnes 240
Gray 219
Hargraves 149
Gray's suit lists Barnes, Hampton, the Chicot County Election Commission and Hargraves as defendants in the case. Johnson's office said Wednesday that a hearing will be set next week to discuss the matter.
According to the prosecutor's office, Barnes was convicted in 1990 under the name Mary Frances Johnson for possessing cocaine with intent to deliver in Washington state and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. A second felony conviction followed in 2007 on an unlawful possession of a firearm charge.
Messages left for Barnes and the others involved in the lawsuit were not returned by Wednesday afternoon.
In an interview last week, Barnes said she thought the cocaine conviction had been expunged. She denied any knowledge of the firearm charge and vowed to press forward with seeking to expunge her record.
"I only lost by one vote in the general election, so it's obvious that I have great support in this community," she said at the time, adding: "It is very unfortunate what has happened to me because I did not lie to anyone. In fact, I made it very clear to everyone during my campaign that there could be an issue with a felony in my past. But I honestly thought it had been taken care of."
State Desk on 11/27/2014