Conway lawyer announces ’18 bid for circuit court seat

Andrea Woods announced Friday that she plans to run for the 20th Judicial Circuit’s Division 1 judge seat.

The circuit serves Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren counties.

Woods, 47, lives in Conway, where she has spent 12 years as executive vice president and corporate counsel for Nabholz Construction. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas in 1992 and a law degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, in 1996.

She was an assistant prosecuting attorney and worked as an associate attorney before returning to Arkansas in 2000. In Arkansas, she has worked as human resources director for the city of Sherwood and as an assistant city attorney for the city of North Little Rock.

The circuit judge seat is currently held by Christopher Carnahan, 45, formerly general counsel of the state Board of Pharmacy. Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Carnahan last year to fill a vacancy created by the departure of Judge Mike Murphy, 56, who was elected to the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Carnahan’s appointment, which is for two years, began Jan. 1.

For judicial candidates, the filing period starts at 3 p.m. Feb. 22 and ends at 3 p.m. March 1. Woods is the first candidate to announce her plans to run for the 20th Judicial Circuit’s Division 1 seat.

The judicial general election will be held May 22.

Circuit judges are elected to six-year terms and currently earn $159,999.84 annually. A proposal before the Independent Citizens Commission — created as part of Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in November 2014 — would increase the annual salaries for circuit judges to $163,200 annually.