A longtime northeast Arkansas prosecutor announced on Tuesday his plans to run for a newly created circuit judge position.
Scott Ellington announced Tuesday afternoon on his Facebook page that he would be running for circuit judge this upcoming election season.
“Just a short post to let those know who have been asking, I will confirm that I am going to run for Circuit Judge for the recently created 12th Division,” Ellington wrote “A more formal announcement will follow. Stay tuned.”
Ellington is currently the district prosecuting attorney for the Second Judicial District of Arkansas, including Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett counties.
He was elected as prosecuting attorney in 2010 and re-elected to a second term in 2014.
Ellington previously said his first action as prosecutor was to reach a deal with the three men who had been convicted as teenagers of murdering three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis. He agreed to an Alford Plea — which upheld the convictions of the West Memphis Three but allowed them to be released from prison and to maintain their innocence.
Ellington's prosecutorial duties over the past few years include the capital-murder trial of Jerry Lard, who murdered a Trumann police officer; probes into possible ballot fraud; and dealing with national attention on the shooting death of Chavis Carter in the back seat of a Jonesboro police car.
Scott also served as a deputy prosecutor, beginning in 2007. Before joining the prosecutor’s office, he worked in private practice for 15 years.