Conway judge to run for appeals court seat

Circuit Judge Mike Murphy of Conway is running for District 2, Position 2 on the Arkansas Court of Appeals in the March 1 nonpartisan judicial election, Murphy said Monday.

That position is held by former Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Cliff Hoofman, a former state senator who was appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe in late December to the post after Appeals Court Judge Rhonda Wood was elected to the state Supreme Court. Hoofman is barred under state law from seeking election to the position.

“If elected, I pledge to work hard and uphold our laws with fairness, honesty and integrity,” Murphy said in a written statement.

Murphy, 54, has been the circuit judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit’s 1st Division since January. The circuit includes Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren counties.

He had served 3 ½ months as a circuit judge presiding over the circuit’s 2nd Division, where Michael Maggio had presided until the state Supreme Court stripped him of all cases in late March and then removed him from office in September.

A Faulkner County native, Murphy opened a private law practice in 1988 and worked as a deputy prosecutor before he was elected as Conway’s city attorney in 1990. He served in that post for more than 22 years before his election as a circuit judge last year.

District 2 of the state Court of Appeals includes Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Newton, Pope, Randolph, Searcy, Sharp, Stone and Van Buren counties.