Her opponent falsely accused Washington County Juvenile Court Judge Stacey Zimmerman of falling behind in continuing legal education requirements, a claim based on information provided by the state Supreme Court Clerk's office.
Now another judge in the region, Benton County District Judge Jeff Conner, disputes reports he's late in his payments of state bar association dues. His claim is supported by the available records.
A March ruling in a Faulkner County case brought the eligibility of more than 50 sitting judges in Arkansas Courts into question. The ruling stated that, under Amendment 80 of the state constitution, a judge must be fully qualified to practice law in Arkansas to be eligible and must have been qualified for the preceding six years.
Lawyers who haven't paid Arkansas Bar Association dues on time are considered suspended, he ruled. That ruling was contradicted Friday by a decision in Pulaski County Circuit Court. The matter is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.
According to a list of affected judges released by the clerk of the Supreme Court, local judges appearing on the May 20 judicial election ballot who have had any late dues payment in the relevant time frame are: Zimmerman, Conner, and Benton County Circuit Judges Brad Karren and Thomas Smith. All have now paid their dues and any applicable late fees, they confirmed. Conner disputes the report he paid late, a spokesman for his office said.
Zimmerman is paid up on her bar association dues and has a record of being in good standing on her continuing legal education requirements, said state Supreme Court spokeswoman Stephanie Harris. Zimmerman did pay late dues for 2012, she and the judge said.
The Supreme Court's Clerk's office erroneously provided the information Zimmerman wasn't current in legal education requirements to the campaign of the judge's election opponent, Lisa Parks of Fayetteville, Harris said. Parks made her claims in an e-mail Friday night. Zimmerman challenged the allegations at a meeting of the Washington County Bar Association on Monday.
Harris said the error was made during a crush of requests for information on the dues-paying status of judges and candidates. She apologized for the misinformation. The issue of dues attracted statewide attention after the March court ruling, with nonpartisan judicial elections set for May 20.
Northwest Arkansas Newspapers checked the status of other local judges and candidates listed on the May 20 ballot. Circuit Judges Brad Karren of Rogers and Thomas Smith of Bentonville confirmed they were behind in their dues and have since paid them. Both said they have taken steps to ensure the error isn't repeated.
"I'm the one ultimately responsible," Karren said when asked if the nonpayment was a clerical error.
Karren is confident the ruling that late payment of dues amounts to a suspension will be overturned, he said.
"If you miss a payment on your water bill, you have to pay a late fee, but they don't automatically shut your water off," he said.
Smith agreed, adding the ruling will assure the prompt payment of Arkansas Bar Association fees for the foreseeable future, even if it's overturned.
"One thing's for sure," he said. "Everybody's going to write it down on their calendar."
Conner was also named in news reports in other media as being late. A spokesman for Conner's office said the judge had her double-check and he was current. A check of Supreme Court Clerk records available on the Internet on Friday found no record of him being late.
Parks said Thursday she had no reason to believe the information she e-mailed wasn't accurate.
"I relied on the court clerk for the information, and never would have knowingly put out false information," Parks said. "This is the only source of that information there is. The clerk keeps the records."
The information was obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Mark Henry, a Fayetteville attorney and consultant to Parks' campaign. Henry provided copies of his request to the clerk and correspondence to and from that office afterward.
The original error may have been the clerk's, but the decision to send out the information in a campaign e-mail after business hour April 4 was Parks', Zimmerman said Friday. Parks' timing prevented those allegations from being double-checked or effectively disputed until Monday morning at the earliest, Zimmerman said.
At the very least, Parks should have checked records available on the Internet about the continuing legal education portion of the allegation, Zimmerman said.
"It takes three minutes," she said.
Zimmerman did that when she obtained a copy of the e-mail, the judge said, and quickly found the records of another attorney named Zimmerman in another part of the state whose particulars matched the allegations made against her.
A judge should comply with the law, Parks said. That's why she sent the e-mail with details on the continuing legal education issue when she believed the information was accurate, she said.
In addition, Parks' e-mail interpreted the information provided by the clerk in a critical light, Zimmerman said. Those interpretations were Parks', not the clerk's, she said. "She said I ruled on a case while my license was suspended," the judge said. "My license never was suspended."
"I'm disappointed we're not talking about the issues that matter: Helping kids and helping families," Zimmerman said.
NW News on 04/13/2014