FAYETTEVILLE -- The new year will bring changes to all the courts in Washington County.
Circuit judges will have new duties, the hodgepodge system of municipal courts will be restructured into state district courts and the lights will go out on night court.
District Courts changing
District courts are the state’s courts of limited jurisdiction. There are two types of district courts: State district courts and local district courts. The state began changing the district court system July 27, 2011, when 25 full-time judges were ensconced in 15 counties comprising 15 districts. Additional state district courts were created in January 2013, and more, including Washington County, are coming on line this week.
State district courts exercise territorial jurisdiction within judicial districts established by the General Assembly that is city, county or districtwide. These courts have subject matter jurisdiction over misdemeanors and violations of state law and local ordinances, preliminary felony cases and civil cases involving contracts, damage to personal property and recovery of personal property in matters less than $25,000. A small-claims division provides a forum in which residents represent themselves to resolve contracts and personal property matters of less than $5,000. Supreme Court Administrative Order Number 18 authorizes state district court judges to hear certain matters filed in circuit court upon referral by the circuit court or the consent of the parties.
The remainder of the state’s district courts are designated as local district courts. Local district courts are served by part-time judges who may engage in the private practice of law. Local district courts have territorial jurisdiction as established by the General Assembly, most of which is count wide. Their subject matter jurisdiction includes misdemeanors and violations of state law and local ordinances, preliminary felony cases and civil cases involving contracts, damage to and recovery of personal property in matters less than $5,000. A small-claims division also exists in local district courts.
Source: Arkansas Judiciary
Ray Reynolds, longtime Elkins district judge and county magistrate, will step down from the bench after 32 years.
Reynolds was the last judge to oversee proceedings at night in the county. His court in Elkins will change to a day court.
"I'll miss it. It's a time whose time has come," Reynolds said. "I enjoyed being the judge out there and tried to do the right thing; you try to be fair and civil if they'll let you. If that's the legacy I leave behind -- that I was basically a fair guy -- that's fine with me. I listened to people when they came out there and gave everybody a fair shot."
Reynolds also will step away from his job as a circuit court magistrate, doing felony arraignments and first appearance hearings and setting bonds. He plans to continue his private practice.
"My private practice is going strong. I'm not retiring, and I'm not deceased," Reynolds chuckled. "And some of the restrictions that were on me as a judge, where I couldn't do certain practices, criminal practices and stuff like that, will now no longer have effect, so I will be able to represent people on just about everything."
Circuit and district judges will take over Reynolds' duties as a magistrate on a rotating basis.
All seven circuit judges will take turns hearing first appearance and felony arraignments on Fridays, according to the administrative plan approved by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Two district judges will take turns hearing first appearances and felony arraignments in addition to misdemeanor first appearances and arraignments on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The number of district judges in the county was reduced from five to four because the courts are moving to state control. Benton County district courts went under state control in 2013. Several of the 75 counties in the state are changed each year.
Graham Nations, Jeff Harper, Casey Jones and Bill Storey were elected full-time district judges in May. Storey, Jones and Harper were unopposed. Nations defeated Casey Copeland.
District courts handle mostly misdemeanor criminal cases, like driving while intoxicated, domestic battery or traffic violations.
Harper will hold court in Springdale, Johnson and Elm Springs, according to the administrative plan.
Nations will hold court in Prairie Grove, Johnson, Farmington, Lincoln and Springdale and at the Washington County Detention Center.
Jones will hold court in Greenland, West Fork, Elkins, Fayetteville and at the detention center.
Harper, Nations and Jones will travel to the towns on different days for proceedings.
Storey will hold court in Fayetteville.
Jones said the new system could give district judges the ability to hear cases they could not before the changes.
"The circuit judges can, if they wish, give some duties to the district judges that were normally handled by the circuit judges, like violation of orders of protection, default divorces, that sort of thing," Jones said. "The only thing that we are doing is the probable cause, first appearance and arraignments for them because they have sufficient numbers that they can cover all the duties of circuit judges, but that option is available."
The timetable for the statewide change is governed by Act 1081 of 2015. The act stems from Amendment 80 to the state constitution, which was passed in 2000 with a goal of totally revising Arkansas courts. Changes include merging law and equity courts and the nonpartisan election of judges.
"It's taken 17 years to implement that, at least in Washington County," Jones said. "Leaving this office will be a change for me; I was the first full-time city [Fayetteville] prosecutor. They'd never had a full-time city prosecutor until 1992. So, I've done it for 24 years."
The changes will continue through 2029 as more courts change from municipal to state district courts.
Full-time state district court judges are paid $140,000 per year. Each county in Arkansas has at least one district court. Some counties, like Washington and Benton, have several. Madison and Carroll counties will share a district judge.
NW News on 01/02/2017