Judge Tim Fox, seeking re-election to the 6the Judicial Circuit of Pulaski and Perry counties, is the third judicial candidate this week to have his qualifications challenged in a lawsuit because his law license was suspended temporarily for nonpayment of dues.
The suit filed by attorney Matt Campbell on behalf of registered voter John K. Kelly of North Little Rock states that Fox’s law license was suspended for 45 days last year.
Fox, 56, was licensed in 1981 but the six-week 2013 lapse in licensing should disqualify him from re-election because the ArkansasConstitution requires circuit judges be licensed for six years before taking office, according to the five-page lawsuit.
For Fox to take office on Jan. 1, 2015, he must havebeen continually licensed since Jan. 1, 2009, the lawsuit states.
With the ballots for the May 20 election already printed, Kelly wants a judge to remove Fox from the list of eligible candidates and prohibit any votes he receives from being counted.
Fox declined to comment Thursday. His license was reinstated after his $200 licensing fee and a $100 penalty were paid.
No hearings have been scheduled in any of the lawsuits. A special judge, appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court, is likely going to be required to hear the Fox case.
Fox is unopposed for office because his opponent, Valerie Thompson Bailey, was disqualified by another judge last month after her credentials were challenged in a lawsuit based on similar grounds because her license had been suspended for about nine years.
Bailey, who was licensed in 1999, argued she should be allowed to remain a candidate because her suspension was, in part, voluntary because she accepted the sanction while she lived out of state and raised a family.
She returned to practicing law in 2011, and she asked the judge appointed to hear the case by the Arkansas Supreme Court, to differentiate between a punitive suspension and an administrative sanction.
But the judge, John Cole of Sheridan, ruled that the constitution does not make that distinction. His decision, which came with his explanation that “a suspension is a suspension is a suspension,” was cited in the lawsuit against Fox.
On Thursday, Bailey petitioned to Cole to vacate the ruling and grant her a new hearing.
In the four-page pleading, she argued that the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled last year that a law license can only be considered lost if it is surrendered or removed by disbarment procedure.
Campbell, the attorney who filed the suit challenging Fox’s candidacy, said he was inspired by Cole’s ruling to inquire with the state Supreme Court about Fox’s license.
“I was just curious as to whether any other judicialcandidates had any of these administrative suspensions,” Campbell said.
Campbell is also a political commentator who operates the Democratic-leaning Blue Hog Report blog that regularly criticizes Republican policy and GOP officials in Arkansas.
Blog posts by Campbell about judicial candidates who had their licenses suspended for nonpayment of dues led to two lawsuits this week against two Conway candidates who are seeking election to the 20th Judicial Circuit of Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren counties.
One suit disputes lawyer Angela Byrd’s credentials because her license was suspended for about a day last year for nonpayment, while Circuit Judge H.G. Foster, a gubernatorial appointee seeking an elected post, was sued by his opponent, Doralee Idleman Chandler, because he’s had four suspensions totaling 216 days since 2009.
Foster released a statement Thursday predicting he’ll be vindicated.
“I have confidence in the favorable application of the law to this case. In addition, I have confidence in my qualifications to do this job, not only because I have been serving as judge for the last year and half, but because of my 34 years of legal practice including my tenure as prosecuting attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit,” the statement said.“ … I am truly saddened by the negative tone that this campaign has taken but I promise, if fortunate enough to be elected, I will continue to be an independent member of the judiciary for the 20th District.”
The lawsuits are filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court because the defendants include the secretary of state in his capacity as election administrator for the state.
Besides those currently facing lawsuits, reports by Campbell and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette have identified other judicial candidates whose licenses had been temporarily suspended. One such candidate, Court of Appeals Judge Rhonda Wood, who is running uncontested for the Arkansas Supreme Court, issued a statement Thursday citing a personal clerical error in 2008 that caused her to pay$100 instead of $200 for her dues.
“I take full responsibility for the incorrect payment amount. However, I was never notified of the short suspension until media contacted me this week. My name was not included on the 2008 list of attorneys with delinquent dues. Finally, my license was never revoked, and I have been a licensed attorney in Arkansas since 1999.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/04/2014