County Will Decide on New Judge Feb. 2

RISON - The Cleveland County Quorum Court approved resolutions declaring vacancies for the positions held by the late Cleveland County Judge Jimmy Dale Adair and the late District 6 Justice of the Peace Owen Rushing during its regular monthly meeting Monday night in Rison.County Judge Adair passed away Friday, Jan. 2, at a Little Rock hospital. He was appointed in September 2025 to fill the unexpired term of the late County Judge Jimmy Cummings, who died in August 2025.Adair started his career with the county as a grader operator before eventually being promoted to road foreman by Cummings.Adair and Cummings faced off against one another in the 2022 election for county judge with Adair running as a Democrat and Cummings as Republican. Despite begin one-time political opponents, the two developed a friendship that resulted in Cummings promoting Adair to county road department foreman, and eventually listing Adair as his successor should he pass away while serving in office.Cleveland County Clerk Brandy Herring said in a separate interview that Adair met with the courthouse staff on Friday, Dec. 19, to tell them that he had been diagnosed with cancer.Adair was set to serve through the remainder of Cummings’ term, which will end on Dec. 31.He is the third county judge to die while serving in office. The late County Judge Gary Spears passed away in January 2021. His term was completed by his wife, Melody Spears, who is now a justice of the peace on the quorum court.Rushing, meanwhile, died on Dec. 26, 2025, at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff. A resident of the Calmer area, he had served on the quorum court for 19 years.The quorum court’s declaration of vacancies Monday night was the first step needed to allow appointments to be made for both positions. The quorum court will select the person to serve out the current county judge’s term while the appointment for Rushing’s District 6 seat w...