3 appointed to judge seats

Governor’s picks fill vacancies in 3 courtrooms in Ozarks

Appointments to three Arkansas circuit court judicial seats were announced by Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday to fill expected vacancies by judges elected this year to the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

All three judicial circuits -- the 16th, 14th and 20th -- are in the Ozark Mountains. Hutchinson's appointments will serve two years starting Jan. 1. Terms of the Supreme Court justices and Appeals Court judges also start in January.

Attorney Maureen Hazinski Harrod of Heber Springs was appointed to fill the 16th Circuit Court seat of Judge Dan Kemp of Mountain View, who was elected March 1 to chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Harrod formerly served as city attorney and alderman. She is also a former prosecuting attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit and the 6th Judicial Circuit, which includes Pulaski and Perry counties. The 16th Circuit includes all of Fulton, Izard, Stone, Independence and Cleburne counties.

Kemp earned more than 57 percent of the vote against current Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson in the March election. He will replace outgoing Chief Justice Howard Brill.

In the nearby 14th Judicial Circuit, Harrison attorney Gail Inman-Campbell was appointed to fill the seat of outgoing Judge Shawn Womack of Mountain Home. Womack also was elected to the Supreme Court. Inman-Campbell is a private attorney in Harrison and has previously served as the district judge of Boone County.

The 14th Circuit includes Boone, Marion, Baxter and Newton counties.

Womack defeated Little Rock attorney Clark Mason for a spot on the Supreme Court with 67 percent of the vote.

In the 20th Judicial Circuit -- which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties -- Hutchinson appointed the general counsel of the state Board of Pharmacy, Chris Carnahan, to fill the vacancy to be created by the departure of Judge Mike Murphy, who was elected to the Court of Appeals.

Murphy defeated current Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland for a spot on the state's second-highest court.

Hutchinson also announced the appointment of Holly Meyer of Heber Springs to serve as the prosecuting attorney of the 16th Judicial Circuit starting Jan. 1. Hutchinson previously appointed Meyer to serve two years as judge in the 16th Circuit, which will expire at the end of this year.

Meyer and current 16th Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Don McSpadden will essentially switch roles, as the latter was unopposed in the March election for the judgeship.

There are 121 judges serving in 28 circuits in Arkansas. They are elected to six-year terms, though the 29th Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution gives the governor the power to appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

Metro on 10/07/2016

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