BENTONVILLE — Justice of the Peace Frank Winscott has sold his home and moved out of District 2, but he’s not immediately giving up his seat on the Benton County Quorum Court.
Winscott told the members of the Quorum Court’s Finance Committee he had relocated, but said state law is unclear on the process for declaring and filling a vacancy on the Quorum Court and he is relying on County Attorney George Spence for advice.
“It’s not a clear-cut decision, but we are working on it,” Winscott said.
Winscott said he moved after receiving an offer on his residence at 16088 Dear Lane on about five acres of land on Beaver Lake east of Rogers. Winscott said the house was put up for sale because he and his wife were looking for a smaller property with less maintenance required. The house sold in early November, he said, and they moved to a house at 6305 S. 26th St. in Rogers.
“We’d been out there for about 15 years, and we just needed something smaller,” Winscott said.
Winscott said he expects he will leave his seat on the Quorum Court, but he has no schedule.
“Obviously, at some point in time, I would assume I would be stepping aside,” he said.
County Judge Bob Clinard said the ambiguities of the law seem to make it possible for Winscott to continue serving on the Quorum Court for some time.
“It’s unclear when he might not be a legal or effective justice of the peace,” Clinard said. “It appears he will be the ‘de facto’ representative of the district until a replacement is named by the governor.”
Spence said there is a procedure for filling a vacancy on the Quorum Court, but there’s no hard and fast schedule or guidelines for proceeding.
“The rule seems to be that until a successor is sworn in, they can continue to serve,” Spence said of justice of the peace and other elected officials who leave the districts they were elected to represent.
At A Glance
Residency Requirements
Arkansas Code, Section 14-14-1306 sets out residency requirements for justices of the peace:
(a) All county, county quorum court district and township officers shall reside within their respective townships, districts and counties.
(b) An office shall be deemed vacant if a county officer removes his legal residence from the county or if a district or township officer removes his legal residence from the district (or) township from which elected.
(c) For purposes of this section, legal residence shall be defined as the domicile of the officer evidenced by the intent to make such residence a fixed and permanent home.
Source: Staff Report
Spence said the process calls for the Quorum Court to adopt a resolution declaring a vacancy and calling on the governor to appoint someone to serve out the rest of Winscott’s term. Winscott won the race for the Republican party nomination to the District 2 seat in the May 22 primary, defeating Robert Shaver. Winscott was unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election. The term he was elected to serve will run from Jan. 1, 2013, through Dec. 31, 2014.
Spence said he is still researching the law on replacing justices of the peace. He said the first step in the process is up to the Quorum Court.
“The governor appoints a replacement, but that’s triggered by us adopting a resolution declaring the vacancy and sending it to the governor,” Spence said. “After that, the rule is the new person continues in their service until somebody is elected at the next general election.”
Spence said there are provisions in the law stating an incumbent continues to serve in office until another person has been “qualified and elected.” He said a city council incumbent, for example, could decline to run for re-election, but continue in office if no one else chooses to run.
“In that case, he continues to serve because nobody else has been qualified and elected,” Spence said.