Residents of District 10 in Pulaski County have been left without quorum court representation, county officials say, after a legal ruling that said Justice of the Peace Kristina Gulley is not eligible to serve but stopped short of removing her from office.
For her part, Gulley has refused to step down.
On May 10, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chip Welch signed an order stating Gulley was ineligible to hold public office because of two prior hot check misdemeanor convictions. In Arkansas, hot check misdemeanors are considered an "infamous crime" according to a prior ruling from the Arkansas Supreme Court, and a conviction bars a person from holding public office. Some infamous crimes include bribery, embezzlement of public money, forgery, abuse of office, any felonies or a case where a defendant admitted to an act of deceit, fraud or false statement.
On June 2, Welch granted the county's motion to intervene in the case but denied a motion for limited consideration or declaration of a vacancy in the position, which has left county officials scratching their heads trying to figure out what steps need to be taken to allow the county to move forward.
On Tuesday, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley began the judicial process to remove Gulley from office, and the Pulaski County Quorum Court has a resolution declaring a vacancy in her district on the table to possibly be decided July 12.
A vacancy declaration is required to enable the governor to appoint someone to serve in Gulley's place on the Quorum Court.
Jegley, on behalf of the state, and Hyde, as the county's chief executive, stated in a 12-page petition to Welch that Gulley's refusal to resign requires that they get a court order to declare her a "usurper," remove her from office and prevent her from participating in Quorum Court duties. They've requested immediate action through a temporary restraining order barring her from those duties and to force Gulley to repay nearly $30,000 in per diem pay, expense reimbursements and benefits she has received since taking office Jan. 5, 2021.
The situation came to light after Pulaski County residents Henry and Detrice Robinson filed a complaint against Gulley in May alleging her prior misdemeanor convictions made her ineligible for public office in Arkansas. Although Welch's order declared Gulley ineligible to hold office, he did not issue -- and the original complaint did not seek -- an order to remove Gulley from office in her current term.
Complicating the matter even further was the discovery that Gulley's challenger in the May 24 primary -- former Justice of the Peace Barry Jefferson -- was also declared ineligible to hold elected office, and for the very same reason. Otherwise, Jefferson, who lost to Gulley in the May primary by 303 votes out of 1,507 votes cast, would have been declared the winner of the race.
A complaint filed June 1 by Florence Wiley claimed that Jefferson, was found guilty of a hot check violation in 2007. Wiley's complaint alleged other criminal activity by Jefferson, including a previous charge from Kmart for theft and unpaid fines to Phillips County District Court. On June 3, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce signed an order declaring Jefferson ineligible to hold public office.
Hyde said Thursday that Gulley's refusal to step down places the county in a difficult situation from which he said the way forward is not clearly defined. He did say, however, that Gulley cannot sit in on future Quorum Court meetings.
"By the order she is ineligible to be a JP," he said. "I take that as being simple language that she is not a JP, therefore she cannot sit at the bar, she should not present herself as a justice of the peace, and she certainly cannot try to impose a vote on any issue because anything she would vote on -- depending on the numbers -- could be challenged as being invalid."
Asked about the legality of past votes Gulley has taken, Hyde said research did not indicate any instances in which her vote would have been the deciding factor.
"Our coordinator for the Quorum Court has not been able to find any such case," he said.
As for seeking reimbursement for per diem payments and benefits, Hyde said his understanding of state law left him no choice but to seek reimbursement of those expenditures now or answer to auditors later.
"This isn't something we have a choice on," he said. "We're subject to a legislative audit and we face kind of a conflict here where she was declared ineligible to serve and ineligible to be on the ballot, which, in my simple mind means she never legally held the position.
"I think that puts us in the position where we don't have any choice but to have made an honest legal attempt to recover those costs," Hyde said.
Quorum Court Director Justin Blagg said although it's not unusual for candidates and elected officials to be declared ineligible to serve, having both candidates declared ineligible while the incumbent refuses to resign is unique in his experience.
"I worked in the Legislature for 10 years and this probably happened to five different people but usually they would just resign," he said. "In this instance you have sort of a really weird situation where the JP -- former JP -- is refusing to resign her seat but the court hasn't declared her removal yet so it's really in kind of a strange place. ... It puts District 10 in political limbo."
The Quorum Court did have a resolution on the table at its meeting last Tuesday but the members decided to act on it later.
"The resolution was never taken up," Blagg said. "When the court reconvenes July 12 the item will be up for final action."
Jegley said the situation is one he has not encountered in the past but the way forward is complicated by Gulley's refusal to step down.
"Like several other people in recent memory in the state of Arkansas, she's committed what the courts consider an infamous crime that disqualifies her from holding public office," Jegley said. "We've got a civil ruling ... that declared her ineligible. ... I don't know, it's unprecedented what we're seeing."
Contacted Thursday, Gulley declined to comment other than to indicate she does not intend to let the matter drop.
"We're going to do a press conference about this craziness next week," Gulley said. "So at that point, if you guys want to come out and interview me, that will be fine."
As of Thursday afternoon, the Pulaski County website showed the District 10 JP position to be vacant.
Information for this article was contributed by Neal Early, John Lynch and Teresa Moss of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.