Quorum Court Will Declare Judge’s Vacancy on Monday

RISON - The Cleveland County Quorum Court will have a special called meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22, at the Hall-Morgan Veterans Building in Rison to approve a resolution declaring a vacancy in the office of Cleveland County Judge.The resolution comes after the passing of County Judge Jimmy on Aug. 28.Justice of the Peace Donnie Herring of the Pleasant Ridge community, moderator for the quorum court, suggested to the court during its regular monthly meeting on Sept. 2 that it take two weeks before officially declaring the vacancy. The court agreed to meet this Monday, Sept. 22, to do that.Herring was elected moderator at the beginning of the year by his peers. The moderator oversees all quorum court meetings when the county judge is not available.During the Sept. 2 meeting, Herring told the court he visited with the Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) about addressing the vacancy. He said the AAC informed him the county would need to publish a public notice in the newspaper informing the public as to when the quorum court will meet to declare the county judge's office vacant. That notice was published in the Herald on Sept. 10 and Sept. 17. Now that the public notice has been published, Herring said the court can now approve a resolution officially declaring the vacancy and then proceed with filling the vacant office.Arkansas Code § 14-14-1310 states that the quorum court must appoint someone to the vacant office within 30 days after the resolution is approved. That means the quorum court will need to have an appointment by Oct. 22.Herring said in an interview Tuesday evening that he has not heard from anyone interested in vacancy nor has heard of any suggestions from any of his fellow justices. While he does not know of any interested candidates at this time, he said the quorum court could still possibly discuss an appointment during Monday night's meeting. State law does prohibit justices of the peace in additio...