Faulkner County may have its new county judge following a special meeting of the quorum court Thursday night. Which one it is, however, will be anyone’s guess.
The court will meet at 7 p.m. at the courthouse for the purpose of replacing County Judge Preston Scroggin.
Scroggin will announce his resignation in order to accept an appointment as Director of the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission. Scroggin’s departure will be noted when the court declares a vacancy and motions for a new judge.
Candidates who could finish Scroggin’s tenure include former Conway Alderman Mark Vaught and County Attorney Allen Dodson. Vaught recently ran as a Republican against County Clerk Melinda Reyolds. Dodson has stated a party preference. He was hired in 2012 by Scroggin, a Democrat. Another candidate may be recommended by the court during the meeting.
The court is currently made up of seven Republicans and six Democrats. Frank Shaw, who is listed as a Democrat, will serve on his first court meeting as the Justice of the Peace from District 8.
The person who will finish Scroggin’s term will not be able to run for re-election during the next election. The county judge’s term will be up in 2014.
Comments (6)
Add commentIs this meeting open to the
Is this meeting open to the public?
All Quorum Court meetings are
All Quorum Court meetings are open to the public.
I Noticed
Two names that are list in the article
Frank Shaw and Mark Vaught talk about your polar opposites.
One of them a skinny little runt of a lawyer I wouldn't let hold a single dollar of my money after years of minor contact. While the other who I have only had a few discussions with I would trust with my life savings.
I just hope their over riding concern is not which party the candidate adheres to but which candidate would do the best job for the citizens of Faulkner County.
it will be interesting to see
Several questions come to mind. When did Judge Scroggins begin to seek a new job? Did he know before the election that he wanted out of the job of county judge? Did he run just to keep the county judgeship a democrat seat and not leave it open? If he knew he was wanting to leave maybe he should have told the voters up front.
Maybe if Shifty shaw knew the county judge position was going to be open he might have waited for his longed for judgeship. Does Shifty shaw represent the wishes of his district and vote Republican since that is the party that was the elected JP?
Was Alan Dodson hired just to be the yes man and then be the fill-in judge. Was that part of the deal to get him to take the county attorney job?
It will be interesting to see if a democrat crosses the party line and does what is best for the county. It is time to put the whole Marcus Vaden, Steve Hawks, Jeff Johnson mess out to pasture.
Former Director of Livestock
Former Director of Livestock and Poultry Steve Bryles suddenly passed away in late December. This position was only available in the past four weeks. It was never on anyone's radar during the General Election.
357, I wasn't sure if they'd
357, I wasn't sure if they'd hire in the open view of the public or if they'd go into closed session then come out and make the announcement.
I doubt Scroggin ran knowing he was looking for another job. The man he is replacing died in December and that is a job that fits scroggins background well.
they went into executive
they went into executive session came out and voted Resolution to appoint Alan Dodson by 12-1 to vote, no vote was Brady