Set to retire, Judge Guthrie recalls career
Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a twopart story. For part two, see the Saturday, December 26 edition.
A| Staff Writer brand new, framed photo of Judge David Guthrie gazes out over the 13th Judicial Court Division 6 courtroom. Its quality is noticeably from a much more recent era than those of the court’s previous presiding judges, a subtle testament to the length of time Guthrie has held the position.
For Guthrie, the photo serves in part as a reminder that he is set to retire at the end of year from the courtroom he has presided over for over 27 years.
Guthrie is a circuit judge for the 13th Judicial District, a district that consists of six counties including Union County.
Raised in Camden, Guthrie has spent much of his life in south Arkansas. His interest in the law formed relatively early, bolstered by two Camden lawyers who indulged him.
“Harry Barnes and Larry Pryor were two fresh-out-of-school, new lawyers in [Camden]. Harry Barnes was my Sunday school teacher … He was supportive of my curiosity in the law and would invite me by his office. The fact that a lawyer would talk to a high school kid was impressive. And if he wouldn’t talk to me, Pryor would. That got me interested and I stayed on track in college,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie attended Hendrix College as an undergraduate and earned a degree in history and political science in 1969. He then proceeded to attend law school at the University of Arkansas.
While in law school, Guthrie also completed a two-year ROTC course and was commissioned.
He attended officer basic training after finishing law school.
The two pursuits complemented one another, according to Guthrie.
“There’s always something to do in law school; a lot of reading and preparation… With all of that, it was a different course of action to take an unrelated course of study in the military. It was a change of pace that probably helped achieve some balance,” Guthrie.
He filled the remainder of his time learning and playing rugby, a sport he continued to play even after graduating.
Guthrie began his law career clerking for U.S. District Judge Oren Harris in El Dorado before moving on to establish a private practice.
“Most lawyers in small towns will have a general practice, some business and domestic relations, property law. The practice has changed a bit; back then we had criminal law, too. We didn’t have a public defender, so every practicing lawyer was subject to appointment to those defendants in need of a lawyer but unable to pay for one,” Guthrie said.
The challenge inherent to these appointments appealed to the idealism of the young lawyer.
“We would give it our best shot. The idea was - going up against a prosecutor, their deputy and detectives would fire you up a little bit to try to prevail against them,” Guthrie said.
Private practice remained interesting to Guthrie for the almost two decades he did it because, in part, of its varied nature.
“We would regularly get criminal cases or do things like routinely examine abstracts of title for lending institutions. If you read an abstract, it’s a history of a piece of property. If you go back far enough, before the Civil War, you can find references to slavery or Indian treaties. It’s a snapshot into history… You would have business clients and people of similar age and interests, so you’d always be meeting new people. You’d get a good sense of the community,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie also had what he refers to as a “mid-life adventure” when, in 1990, he was activated and sent to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Persian Gulf War in the Army Reserves.
“I was a member of the 321st Material Management Center here in El Dorado… We were activated to be the material management center for Army on the ground in that theatre… I was 42 with a wife and three little kids; it’s different at that stage. It was our duty and no one complained. We went and did an exceptional job; our unit received a meritorious unit citation for our work there,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie has a Kuwaiti flag, exchanged with a Kuwaiti civilian for an American flag, framed and on his wall as a reminder of the detour his life took in the early 90’s.
“I was part of a fourman-team that went to Kuwait City to assess logistical needs shortly after the firing stopped up there. People were joyful and put up a flag, one stained by smoke from the burning oil wells. I swapped an American flag for it and gave out some signatures,” Guthrie said.
He was a Major at the time of his deployment and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.