Ex-county judge plans land commissioner bid

Former County Judge of Garland County Larry Williams said Tuesday he’s seeking the Democratic nomination for state land commissioner.

“I feel like I could do a good job for the people of Arkansas,” said Williams, of Hot Springs.

“I’ve always wanted to run for statewide office,” he said. He noted that he considered but decided against running for land commissioner in 2002 when the term-limited Democratic incumbent, Charlie Daniels of Bryant, successfully ran for secretary of state.

Williams is the second Democratic candidate to announce his 2018 bid for land commissioner, a statewide elected post held by term-limited East End Republican John Thurston. A year ago, Redfield Democrat Shaun Hubanks announced that he plans to vie for land commissioner next year. Thurston has said he will run for secretary of state next year.

Tommy Land of Heber Springs and Alex Ray of Bryant have announced that they will run for the Republican nomination for the office.

The land commissioner’s office is responsible for collecting overdue real estate taxes, auctioning off delinquent properties and granting mineral leases on state-owned lands. The office is one of seven statewide constitutional offices that also include positions such as governor, secretary of state and attorney general. The land commissioner’s salary is $86,700 a year.

Williams, 65, has served on the Hot Springs Board of Directors since his election in 2014, and his four-year term ends at the end of next year. He served as county judge for Garland County from 19952010 and ran unsuccessfully for the state House of Representatives in 2010. He said he’s now semi-retired, teaches a class each semester at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a research consultant for the Arkansas Public Entities Risk Management Association.

He said 100 employees served under him when he was county judge, and he managed a $30 million budget as the county’s chief executive. The land commissioner’s office has about 40 employees with a $40 million budget.

As county judge, Williams said he served on the land commissioner’s advisory council during Daniels’ tenure in that office.

As county judge, he said, he also attended meetings of the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council to support funding requests by Garvan Woodland Gardens. The land commissioner serves on that council, which awards funds from a real estate transfer tax for the acquisition, management and stewardship of state-owned lands or the preservation of state-owned historic sites, structures or objects. The council also can award funds for work on objects to be determined of value for recreational or conservation purposes.

He said he wants to continue the emphasis of the land commissioner on history. “I don’t plan any major changes at this point.”

Williams said he believes he can be elected to land commissioner as a Democrat and plans a campaign organization in as many of the state’s 75 counties as possible. He said he already has coordinators in 20 counties and 16 of them are former or current county judges.

Hubanks could not be reached for comment by telephone Tuesday afternoon to see whether he still plans to run. In his campaign finance report filed in October, Hubanks reported raising $59 in campaign contributions and spending $47.50 in the quarter that ended June 30. His campaign started the quarter with a campaign account of $11.50 and ended it with $23 in the bank.