The new year brings new judges to the 6th Judicial Circuit that covers Perry and Pulaski counties, chosen by voters to replace six retiring judges, about a third of the 17-member bench headquartered in Little Rock.
Election records show 2020 saw the largest turnover in the court in at least 40 years with six judges retiring, all but one of them leaving because of a state law that penalizes judges who stay on the bench past age 70 by stripping them of their retirement benefits, which can amount to up to 80% of their annual salary of $174,883.
Statewide, 34 circuit judges left the bench in 2020 -- 18 of them after at least 20 years of service -- which is almost a third of the state's 125-person bench, which is divided into 27 circuits.
Taking the oath on New Year's Day to replace Little Rock's retiring judges were Tjuana Byrd, 53; Andy Gill, 45; Amy Dunn Johnson, 44; Shanice Johnson, 32; Shawn Johnson, 44; and Casey Tucker, 48.
The new year also will see some significant shifts in case assignments. Pressed by the Arkansas Supreme Court, the 6th Circuit has cut back its juvenile-court judges from three positions to two, and those courts will be headed by Byrd and Shanice Johnson, according to the circuit's caseload plan.
The other four rookies will join 62-year-old Mike Reif, elected in 2014, in taking on the lion's share of the bench's family-law and probate cases. Together, they will divide 94% of the family law cases while 53-year-old Patti James, elected in 2012, moves from the juvenile court to handle the remaining 6%. Her docket will focus primarily on the drug-rehabilitation court but also will take on 11% of the civil lawsuits.
Five judges -- Tim Fox, 63, elected 2002; Alice Gray, 66, elected 1992; Mackie Pierce, 66, elected 1998; Chip Welch, 70, elected 2012; and Herb Wright, 58, elected 2008 -- will divide 80% of the civil cases with Wendell Griffen, elected in 2010, overseeing the remaining 9% of the civil load.
The remainder of the 68-year-old Griffen's caseload will consist of a 13% share of the circuit's criminal cases, with the remainder being divided among Cathi Compton, 65, elected 2014; Barry Sims, 60, elected 2002, and Leon Johnson, elected 2010. Leon Johnson, 56, will take over duties as administrative judge, an unpaid leadership post whose most public role involves developing the circuit's caseload plan every two years for approval by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The goal of the caseload plan is to give each judge, with the exception of the juvenile-court judges, a little more than 1,400 cases per year, a roughly equal share of the cases filed, based on figures from 2018, which were the most recent figures available when the plan was approved by the high court last year. In 2018, there were 22,707 cases filed, including 8,806 civil, 4,922 criminal, 4,769 domestic, 2,637 probate and 1,537 juvenile.
Outgoing judges are the circuit's senior judge, Joyce Williams Warren, 71, after 32 years on the bench; along with Vann Smith, 69, elected a few months after Warren joined the bench, 32 years; Mary McGowan, 72, 30 years; Chris Piazza, 73, 30 years; Wiley Branton, 69, 28 years; and Richard Moore, 73, 18 years.
All but Branton are retiring because of the forfeiture provision of the judicial retirement system that requires circuit judges who are elected to office after they've turned 70 to forfeit their retirement benefits.
Circuit judges are vested in their retirement in eight years and are eligible for full retirement benefits after 25 years of service, with the potential to receive up to 80% of their salaries.
The provision was adopted in 1965, and judges have complained about the restriction for years. A 2015 lawsuit challenging the legality of the law was rejected by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2016.