Lawsuit seeks ouster of justice of the peace
A lawsuit has been filed against Lloyd Franklin Jr., alleging that Franklin doesn’t live in the justice of the peace district he was elected to and should be removed from office.
The suit was filed by Jimmy Fisher earlier this month in the civil division of Jefferson County Circuit Court. Fisher had been a justice of the peace on the Jefferson County Quorum Court representing District 5, the same district Franklin was elected to represent. Fisher left the seat voluntarily last year when he ran for Jefferson County tax collector and lost.
Fisher claims in the lawsuit that Franklin lives at 11 Elmwood Circle, which is not in District 5.
“The Elmwood Circle Subdivision in which Defendant Franklin lives maintains a home owners association (HOA) whose membership is limited to residents of Elmwood Subdivision,” the lawsuit states. “The Membership Lists for 2020 … and for 2022 … show Defendant Franklin to be the owner of 11 Elmwood Circle as does the Membership List for 2022. … By falsely claiming to be a resident of District 5, Defendant Franklin has committed conduct which justifies his removal pursuant to AR Court Art 7 § 27.”
The lawsuit went on to say that because Franklin “was not and is not a resident of District 5, he was and is ineligible to serve as justice of the peace in that district. The Court should declare that position vacant and remove Defendant Franklin from that position.”
Included in the lawsuit are several attachments showing what appears to be Franklin’s signature on the documents, all of which list his address as 4100 S. Hazel St. One is an affidavit of eligibility submitted to the Jefferson County clerk’s office in early 2022, and two others are political practices pledges, one from the Arkansas secretary of state and the other from the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Fisher also stated in an affidavit that when he was running for tax collector, he stopped at 4100 S. Hazel St. several times but never encountered Franklin.
“I never saw Lloyd Franklin II at 4100 South Hazel Street during the filing period, and that address was occupied by people I did not know,” Fisher wrote. “I stopped at 4100 South Hazel Street, Pine Bluff, during my campaign. On those occa
sions, some 8 to 10 times, that address was vacant or occupied by that unknown family. I never saw Lloyd Franklin II there.”
Another attachment was a letter dated Nov. 29, 2022, from County Judge Gerald Robinson to prosecuting attorney Kyle Hunter that said Robinson had been made aware of a 911 call involving Franklin “that places his residence at 11 Elmwood Circle in Pine Bluff.
“This suggests Mr. Franklin does not live in the Quorum Court district he was elected to serve. It is therefore my fiduciary responsibility to report this information for further investigation.”
Multiple attempts to reach Franklin for comment were unsuccessful.