The first steps to filling the vacancy left by Mark Bailey when he resigned from the Faulkner County Quorum Court last week will begin Tuesday when the Finance and Administration Committee will consider a resolution allowing Gov. Mike Beebe to name a replacement.
Bailey resigned his position on the court weeks before the General Election following a discrepancy into an address he claimed on his filing papers. Bailey was running against Michael Yoder of the Green Party. He had served on the quorum court for 10 years.
Bailey listed 701 Reedy Road #5 in Conway as his address, which is in River Drive Mobile Home Park. The address listed, however, does not have a home of any kind on the property.
Although he has resigned, his name will still appear on the ballot.
Election Commissioner H.G. Foster said Tuesday that the commission was powerless to take Bailey’s name off the ballot, and there was still a chance that Bailey could win the race. If that happened, there were three scenarios that could take place.
“First of all, the loser of the race could sue,” Foster said. “The quorum court could declare a vacancy and appoint a replacement and the prosecuting attorney must file a case to be reviewed.”
Foster said two issues would need to be reviewed: whether the candidate did what he shouldn’t have done in order to get on the ballot, and whether the candidate is qualified to hold office at that point.
The committee will consider the resolution which would declare a vacancy and file it with the governor. The vacancy would then be filled by the governor. The quorum court will have one more meeting before the general election.
In other business, the committee will consider the transfer of funds within county departments.