Judge to take senior status

Hendren has served 20 years

After 20 years as a federal judge in the Western District of Arkansas, U.S. District Judge Jimm Hendren will assume “senior status,” which is considered retirement from active service for federal judges.

Hendren of Bentonville will be replaced as a federal judge. However, senior status judges, “may continue to serve on thebench as much or as little as they want,” said Christopher Johnson, clerk for the district. The change is effective Jan. 1.

Hendren declined comment Monday when called during a break from court.

Federal judges may take senior status when their age, plus their time on the bench, has reached 80 years, Johnson said. Hendren, 72, surpassed that milestone years ago.

Bob Balfe, an attorney for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.who was a U.S. district attorney from 2004-05, recalls Hendren as “extremely intelligent, thorough and considerate.” The judge was adamant about knowing the facts of a case before it came before him in court, Balfe said.

“Whenever I appeared before him, he had already thoroughly considered all the issues in the case and usually discovered several I had not seen before,” Balfe said.

Balfe said Hendren never rendered a sentence that Balfe thought was unfair under the circumstances. And the judge also has a great sense of humor for such serious work, he said.

“He added levity to what was an otherwise ardent task,” Balfe said. “Jurors in particular enjoyed their time in his court.”

Hendren was appointed in March 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and served as chief judge for nearly 15 years of his tenure, according to a news release. The chief judge is responsible for all the administrative work within the district, such as signing orders and maintaining contact with other judges. The chief judge must relinquish those duties at age 65.

“I thought he was one of the finest chief judges in the district,” said U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes, who has been on senior status in the El Dorado District of the Western District of Arkansas since 2008. “He liked the organization and administration of the courts.”

Hendren presides over all criminal and civil casesfiled in the Fayetteville Division of the of the western district. Barnes said it’s likely that Hendren will continue to hear criminal cases, which will be a big help to the other judges in the district.

“It’ll help the docket and give them more time to deal with other things,” Barnes said of Hendren’s counterparts.

Hendren has had many notable cases, among them a case involving a former Razorbacks defensive end, Deon “D.J.” Cooper, in January 2005. A day after the U.S. Supreme Court gave federal judges more discretionary power with sentencing guidelines, Hendren gave Cooper prison time, even though a prosecutor recommended probation.

Hendren sentenced Cooper to 6 months in prison and fined him $2,000 for being a link in a chain of people who took bribe money from illegal aliens and passed it to a Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee who created valid work permits.

Before being appointed federal judge, Hendren practiced law for 21 years in Bentonville, the news release said. From 1977-78, he served as chancellor/probate judge for the 16th Chancery District, which then included Benton, Carroll and Madison counties. In addition, he served two tours in Vietnam, serving in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1983 with the rank of lieutenant commander.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/27/2012

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