Meeting set after county judge dies

A specially called Little River County Quorum Court meeting has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday to declare a vacancy for county judge of Little River County, Little River County Clerk Deanna Sivley said.

The meeting will approve a resolution declaring a vacancy for Clayton Castleman, 67, the county judge of Little River County who died Nov. 22.

Castleman’s term was to end Dec. 31.

Mike Cranford of Foreman was elected as county judge in the Nov. 4 general election, and he will be sworn in Jan. 1.

The county is required to have an interim county judge to sign documents such as payroll checks for county employees, Sivley said. She discussed the requirements with the Arkansas Association of Counties, which said state law requires a county judge to be appointed.

Castleman taught agriculture in the Stuttgart School District for 32 years before returning to his native Little River County.

He was serving a fourth term and would have served eight years at the end of 2014.