Special judge gets more cases in Spa City

Goodson covering for circuit judge on leave after toddler’s death in hot car

HOT SPRINGS -- The chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court has signed more orders that assign a special judge to cover for a Hot Springs judge on leave after the death of his son.

Chief Justice Howard Brill assigned retired Circuit Judge David Goodson of Paragould to preside over Division 2 of the 18th East Judicial Circuit, encompassing Garland County. Goodson will preside for six dates next month starting Nov. 3 and concluding Nov. 19.

Circuit Judge Lynn Williams of Hot Springs, who presides over the circuit's Division 3, requested the assignment of a special judge. Williams had substituted for Circuit Judge Wade Naramore of Hot Springs after the July 24 death of Naramore's son.

A preliminary investigation said the 18-month-old died of excessive heat after being left unattended in a vehicle for an undetermined period of time. Police questioned Naramore as part of the investigation.

Williams said last week that the state's Administrative Office of the Courts and the Division 2 trial court assistant are coordinating the dates when a special judge will be needed. He said his schedule no longer allowed him to substitute for Naramore, whose division handles all the county's juvenile cases and has the busiest docket of the county's four circuit courts.

The Administrative Office of the Courts had already released orders last week assigning Goodson to Division 2 on 10 days this month.

Retired Circuit Judge Ellen Brantley of Little Rock will preside over Division 2 today.

Attorney Donna Gay with the Administrative Office of the Courts said the chief justice could call on other judges. The state Constitution authorizes the chief justice to assign a retired or active judge to substitute for one who is unable to serve.

"The orders are for specific days," said Gay, who works with the chief justice on special judge assignments. "We're doing it piecemeal right now. There could be other days in October when Judge Goodson isn't available, and we'll need other judges to fill in."

Gay said Naramore contacted her several days after his son's death to discuss arrangements for covering the Division 2 docket, which also includes domestic relations and probate cases. She said he hasn't indicated in subsequent conversations if or when he'll return to work.

The law doesn't specify to whom a judge would tender a letter of resignation, Gay said.

"It's not written down anywhere," she said. "In past experience, the protocol was usually to notify the governor's office. Then I think as a practical matter, send a letter notifying the governor and then send a letter to the chief justice as a courtesy."

Lt. Belinda Cosgrove, who oversees the Garland County Juvenile Detention Center, said Wednesday during county budget hearings that Naramore's absence has jeopardized the receipt of a Division of Youth Services grant.

The "alternatives to incarceration" grant pays for matters related to being a "family in need of services." That's a designation for children who are chronically absent from school for illegitimate reasons, exhibit a pattern of disobedience or have run away from home.

Cosgrove told the county Finance Committee that no children have been ordered into the program during Naramore's absence, meaning the $24,000 grant may have to be returned.

"We have a meeting [today]," she told the committee. "We may have no choice but to turn the grant back over to [the Division of Youth Services] unless they would allow me to rewrite it or resubmit it. I'm not sure they'd allow me to do that."

The committee tabled the grant's funding until later this year. The money has to be spent before the state will reimburse the county.

Williams said Naramore's absence hasn't prevented Division 2 from adjudicating cases for families in need of services. He said a recent change to the state's Child Maltreatment Act was probably why no such actions have been brought during Naramore's absence.

Petitions for families in need of services previously had to be filed against excessively truant children before their parents or guardians could be reported to the Division of Children and Family Services child-abuse hotline. Those cases are now reported directly to the hotline, a change the Department of Human Services said allows school districts to notify the department about parents or guardians who are preventing children from attending school.

According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, a vacancy in a judgeship occurring before Nov. 1 would allow a new judge to be elected in the March 1 Nonpartisan Judicial Election and begin serving in January 2017. A vacancy occurring after Nov. 1 would require the governor's appointee to serve through 2018, as a new judge couldn't be elected until the 2018 election.

Naramore was elected to a six-year term in 2014, defeating Cecilia Dyer in a runoff.

State Desk on 10/12/2015

Upcoming Events