Natalie Capps and Katherine Dudley -- first time candidates for Justice of the Peace in Pulaski County District 2 -- are actively campaigning as election day approaches.
Capps, 44, is a mother of three and has raised her family in Pulaski County for over 20 years. She is an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and she recently earned her Ph.D. in nursing research. She decided to run in this election for the Democratic Party because of the potential she sees in Pulaski County.
"We have so much to offer here as a county, but I know also that we have real problems we need to solve," she said. "I really want to create a community that my three kids want to return and raise their families if they choose and I think I can offer some real strategic problem solving and planning within the quorum court."
Capps said her expertise as the only clinical medical provider on the county's governing body would assist in voting on certain issues. In particular, she'd like to implement mental health care at the county jail.
"I think it can help address public safety in a real way," she said. "By multiple different avenues it helps provide relief to the jail that really needs the relief now. Obviously the offenders hopefully don't re-offend and have a better outcome for themselves."
Capps' other priorities, if elected, include protecting the environment by improving public spaces and trails.
"I'm a huge outdoors person. I'm hiking or fly fishing or backpacking frequently in our county," she said. "I think that's one of the very best things. It's really the crown jewel of what we have [in] Pulaski County to help bring individuals and businesses to want to live, work and play here. I would like to work on just maintaining what we already have that's a great portrayal of [a] public space system and then further development and connectivity."
Capps went for the Justice of Peace position in particular because of its community-oriented service.
"I've served as an educator, I've served my neighborhood association boards and development of ordinances that we got passed through the city that we think improve our communities," she said. "I've done lots of work on university-based boards. All of that I feel like is really who I am and this is an opportunity to extend that service in a way that I can hopefully contribute to my community in a different way than I have before."
Dudley, 42, who is running as a Republican, is also a mother of three children and a lifelong resident of Pulaski County. She has her Ph.D. in leadership and innovation in education and teaches music and choir at Pulaski Academy.
Dudley is a pediatric cancer survivor who has served as a mentor to patients and families battling the disease as a spokesperson for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute foundation. Her outlook on life as a cancer survivor and her education background motivated her to run for Justice of Peace.
She said she is still able to be an educator and serve at the local level of government.
"And so that's something that's important to me ... to remain in the classroom, as a practicing educator, and serve. And this, this particular position is one that allows both, and so I thought, well, why wouldn't I?"
If elected, her main priority would be public safety and lowering crime. She mentioned that 25% of cells occupied by offenders in the Pulaski County jail are actually supposed to be at the state penitentiary, but there's not enough room. Inmates are also being released early due to this.
"Systematically I go back to the fact that making more room in our county jail, yes, it's important, but it's reactive," Dudley said. "So is it solving the problem? Well, for the moment, sure, but let's dive deeper and let's look how can we be proactive, and as an educator and just as a citizen of Pulaski County, how can we be proactive in our youth? It starts there."
Dudley hopes the Quorum Court can provide more resources for at-risk youth so they do not fall into the prison system.
"When I was a kid, Little Rock and Pulaski County have always ranked in the top for crime and the bottom for education," she said. "So we can do better. I know that we can."
Her other main priorities as Justice of Peace would be to improve county roads and bridges, keep the cost of living at an affordable rate and help the job market grow.
"This isn't just something that I just set out to do just because, it was something that I felt called to," Dudley said. "I really, really hope that I have the chance to serve because I'm passionate about it, and I feel very confident that I can implement change within our county for our citizens and families."
District 2 is in Little Rock and includes parts of Hillcrest, the Heights, northwest Little Rock and west Pulaski County.
Quorum Court members are elected for two-year terms. The 2022 maximum annual per diem pay for a Justice of the Peace in Pulaski County is $16,382.