Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley on Tuesday began the judicial process to remove Justice of the Peace Kristina Gulley from office, seven weeks after she was disqualified at court order from holding office because of misdemeanor hot-check convictions that date back 19 years and more.
Jegley, on behalf of the state, and Hyde, as the county's chief executive, stated in a 12-page petition to Circuit Judge Chip 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.
Further, Jegley and Hyde ask that the judge force the 53-year-old North Little Rock woman to repay the salary, expenses and benefits she's received, worth $29,037, since taking office on Jan. 5, 2021. They also ask the judge to rule that the county doesn't have to continue to pay her.
Gulley has since had her convictions sealed, but that's not sufficient to allow her to hold office, the petition states.
The Arkansas Constitution bars office-seekers convicted of "infamous crimes" from holding office, with such crimes including a misdemeanor offense involving an act of deceit or fraud. The Arkansas Supreme Court in 2020 declared misdemeanor hot check conviction to be a disqualifying infamous crime.
"Kristina Gulley is ineligible to hold any office of trust or profit in this state because she has been adjudicated guilty of an infamous crime, on two separate occasions, and has been ineligible since the first adjudication of guilt of an infamous crime on or about October 10, 1997," the petition states. "The current state of the law is that the sealing of a record of adjudication of guilt of an infamous crime does not restore the eligibility or capability of the person so adjudicated to hold an office of trust or profit in this state."
Welch was the judge who ruled Gulley's convictions made her unfit to hold office, acting on a lawsuit brought by a husband and wife living in the county's District 10. Although they said the suit was not politically motivated, Gulley accused her opponent, Barry Jefferson, of being behind the effort to unseat her.
Gulley beat Jefferson's challenge to her second term in the March Democratic primaries. With Gulley disqualified, Jefferson would have assumed the justice of the peace position next January, except a lawsuit brought by Gulley's supporters saw him similarly rendered unfit for office by court order due to his own hot check convictions from 16 years ago.