Split judicial districts in Arkansas should be eliminated if their costs outweigh need, according to a master's thesis written by Carroll County Circuit Judge Gerald Crow.
Arkansas has 10 counties with two judicial districts. Split judicial districts divide a county into two geographic areas for operation of the courts.
The Arkansas judiciary and Legislature should assess the need for the dual districts, and the state should provide funding for the study, wrote Crow.
The state hasn't been particularly concerned about the issue because the financial burden of operating the split districts falls on the counties, said Crow.
Crow wrote the 159-page thesis on the topic for his master of judicial studies degree through the University of Nevada in Reno and expects to receive his degree next month.
The 10 Arkansas counties with two judicial districts are Arkansas, Carroll, Craighead, Clay, Franklin, Logan, Prairie, Mississippi, Sebastian and Yell.
These split districts were created more than a century ago largely for political reasons, said Crow. Consolidating the split districts could save money and prevent confusion for litigants, he said.
Consolidating two judicial districts in a county could cut personnel costs by 25 percent, according to a Florida study cited in Crow's thesis. There would also be savings in other areas, such as in insurance costs and building maintenance.
There may have been legitimate reasons for splitting a county into two judicial districts a century ago when travel was more arduous, but it makes little sense today, Crow said.
"Splitting counties into two districts is a horrible thing in this day and age," he said. "It's confusing for litigants because you have to make sure you're bringing your action on the right side of the county. If you try him in the wrong county, he walks."
Split districts is a topic that Crow has addressed from the bench before. In 2010, Crow ruled that Act 74 of 1883, which created two judicial districts in Carroll County, was unconstitutional and had been superseded by subsequent law.
Act 74 of 1883 established two judicial districts in Carroll County, separated roughly by the Kings River, with courthouses in Berryville and Eureka Springs.
The Arkansas Supreme Court overruled Crow's order consolidating the county's two judicial districts, stating that Act 74 of 1883 was still in effect.
"This whole thesis thing came up for me as a result of the Supreme Court's decision," said Crow.
Crow is the judge for Judicial Circuit 19 East, which is comprised solely of Carroll County. Carroll County, in turn, is split into two judicial districts. Crow holds circuit court in both Berryville and Eureka Springs, and court records are kept in both courthouses.
Sebastian County was the first county in Arkansas to be split into two judicial districts. It was the result of a bitter rivalry between Fort Smith and Greenwood, wrote Crow.
Sebastian County's dual district status is written into Article 13 of the Arkansas Constitution of 1874, which states that Sebastian County may have two judicial districts and two county seats.
Between 1875 and 1913, the Arkansas Legislature passed a series of laws that divided another 12 counties into split judicial districts. Ten of the original 13 split districts still exist today.
County seats problematic
Crow said it's a misconception that the laws creating the split judicial districts also created two county seats, except in the case of Sebastian County.
For the other nine counties, changing a county seat would require a vote of the respective electorate under Article 13 of the state constitution.
"None of the subject counties have ever conducted an election which attempted to create a second county seat," wrote Crow.
Tim Parker of Eureka Springs, a lawyer who is now a district judge, filed a lawsuit against Crow when he ordered the Carroll County judicial districts consolidated. It was Parker's suit, on behalf of Carroll County Circuit Clerk Ramona Wilson, that led to the Supreme Court decision.
Parker believes there's less formality behind the phrase "county seat."
"County seat is more of practice rather than proclamation," said Parker. "If you see a staffed courthouse anywhere with county officials in it, that's a pretty good indication that it is a seat of government, which is all a county seat is."
Arkansas Code Annotated 14-14-301(a) defines a county seat as "the principal site for the conducting of county affairs and maintaining the records of the various courts."
The "wide misconception" that these counties have two county seats of government has become so ingrained in state culture that it operates as a barrier to the elimination of the districts, he wrote.
Although getting rid of the dual districts would save counties money, it's a political hurdle, according to Crow.
"The people in each district have formed a community identity that distinguishes them from the residents of the other district," he wrote.
Creations an 'end run'
Crow argues that some of the districts were creating new counties in almost every respect. By doing it this way, proponents of a second county seat could do an "end run" around the state constitution, which required that counties be 600 square miles in size and that county seats be 10 miles from a county line, wrote Crow.
"The Arkansas Supreme Court would disagree with this analysis on the basis of a lack of a taxing authority or a separate legislative body within the new district," he wrote. In all 10 cases, the two judicial districts are still being governed by one quorum court.
Crow, who has been circuit judge in Carroll County since 2009, lost his re-election bid this year to Scott Jackson, who is currently a Berryville District Judge. Jackson will take over as circuit judge for Judicial Circuit 19 East at the beginning of next year.
State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, said the Legislature could look at Crow's recommendation.
"That's always been an issue in Carroll County," said King, referring to his home county and one of the seven counties that are part of his Senate District 5.
But every time it comes up, people in the Carroll County's western district think an effort is being made to close the courthouse in Eureka Springs, said King.
"We've never talked about closing the courthouse down," he said. "There would always be offices over there that are functioning."
King said he was open to doing a study in Carroll County but would need input from the Quorum Court first.
"As budgets get burdensome, people have to look at the cost," said King.
NW News on 07/14/2014