Central Arkansans decide 2 juvenile court races

The judicial system in Pulaski and Perry counties will have a different look thanks to a new crop of judges taking over after the retirement of several long-established judges.

Six of the 17 judges in the 6th Judicial Circuit are leaving. Five chose not to run again because of a state law that requires forfeiture of retirement benefits for judges who are elected to office after turning 70.

Judge Vann Smith of the district’s 14th Division said Tuesday’s primaries will mark the largest turnover he’s seen within the circuit since the 1990s, but he added that a smooth transition is expected and noted that the administrative plan has already been approved by the state Supreme Court.

“In the 1990s I think we were a pretty young group,

and it all worked out,” he said Tuesday morning before election results were announced. “It’s just part of the process.”

“We’ve got a good group of candidates coming in,” he added.

One of the biggest changes will be seen within juvenile court, which usually involves issues such as neglect, delinquency and family needs.

Two of the three juvenile court judges will be new with the retirement of 10th Division Judge Joyce Warren and 8th Division Judge Wiley Branton. Both have served for more than two decades.

Warren, 70, spent her entire career as a juvenile judge. She was appointed to the bench in 1989 by then-Gov. Bill Clinton and is one of the state’s longest-serving judges.

Three candidates — Shanice Whitley Johnson of Little Rock, Lott Rolfe IV of Maumelle and Jonathan Warren of North Little Rock — campaigned to replace Warren.

Unofficial results from the Division 10 race late Tuesday night were:

Rolfe .............. 3,084 Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . 3,007 Warren ............ 2,885

Rolfe, 45, runs a private practice that includes criminal, civil, juvenile and family law, and has a part-time contract with the Public Defender Commission to represent murder defendants. He served as a Little Rock city attorney and a public defender before going into business for himself.

“The work within our juvenile courts is of extreme importance and it is necessary that we put individuals in place as judge who know the importance of protecting children and families,” Rolfe told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in an earlier interview.

Johnson, 31, has practiced law since May 2014 and is an attorney for the Department of Human Services.

“My sense of impartiality is the single most important attribute that prepares me to be a judge because presiding over cases dealing with children and remaining impartial … is the only way to recognize true justice,” she told the Democrat-Gazette prior to Tuesday’s election.

Jonathan Warren, 47, is the son of Judge Joyce Warren and works with the Rainwater, Holt and Sexton firm of Little Rock. He has clerked for an Arkansas Supreme Court justice, served as a deputy prosecutor and worked as an assistant attorney general before joining the Rainwater firm.

In the 8th Division, Tjuana Byrd of Sherwood led Suzanne Lumpkin of Little Rock late Tuesday night in the race to replace Branton.

Unofficial results were: Byrd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,838 Lumpkin . . . . . . . . . . 1,984

Both candidates touted their extensive experience in the types of cases that come before juvenile court judges.

Byrd, 52, licensed in 1996, said going into the primary that she would bring a diversity of legal experience to the bench, having worked as a public defender, a city attorney and ad litem, in addition to running a private practice since 2009.

She said she was drawn to the field by the core belief in the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

“I am a believer in ‘the village,’ and believe we are all responsible for the love and nurturing of all children,” Byrd told the Democrat-Gazette in an earlier interview.

Lumpkin, 57, said juvenile law has been the focus of her practice for 16 years, which has included presiding as special judge in juvenile court. She said her interest in juvenile law and family court are also passions.

“I have the experience both at the trial and appellate court level, as I have written numerous appellate briefs in dependency/neglect cases over the course of my career,” she told the Democrat-Gazette earlier. “I have raised four children and have that unique perspective from which to effectively rule from the bench in juvenile court cases.”

Judges earn $168,096 a year and are elected to sixyear terms.