Beebe names Conway city attorney to fill Maggio vacancy

Gov. Mike Beebe has appointed Conway City Attorney Michael Murphy to fill the post left after 20th Judicial Circuit Judge Michael Maggio was removed from office last week.

Murphy is already set to become a judge after winning an election in the 5th Division, where he takes office in January. Maggio was judge in the 2nd Division.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Maggio removed from office about a month after he reached an agreement to be suspended from his position for the rest of his term and then prohibited from holding a judicial office thereafter. The state's high court had final say and instead ordered Maggio removed from the post immediately.

Murphy said he is looking forward to "restoring confidence" to the office.

"No doubt the public has got to be confident that our courts are fair, impartial and this has been such a terrible distraction," he said. "And not just a distraction, it's been a black eye to our profession. It doesn't help the public confidence. You'e got have confidence in the judicial branch because that's where people go to get a fair shake. If you don't have that, then our whole system is in trouble."

Maggio came under fire initially in March because of online posts he made that violated the confidentiality afforded to actress Charlize Theron's adoption and touched on issues including sex acts, bestiality and divorce.

Soon after those revelations, questions arose about contributions that Maggio's campaign accepted from several political action committees financed largely by businessman and nursing-home owner Michael Morton, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Days after some of those donations were made, Maggio cut a jury-awarded $5.2 million judgment against one of Morton's nursing homes to $1 million.

A federal investigation into the campaign contributions is reportedly ongoing.

Murphy told the Democrat-Gazette last week that he was open to filling Maggio's vacant position if he was able to leave his city position a few months earlier than expected.

He said Monday that the city is working to call a special council meeting early this week to formally accept his resignation as city attorney, though it doesn't necessarily have to happen before he is sworn in as judge.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Troy Braswell was elected to the 2nd Division judgeship and will take office in January when Murphy moves to the 5th Division.

See the full list of Beebe's appointments to boards and commissions here, and read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.