Crews elected prosecuting attorney in 20th Judicial Circuit runoff

CONWAY — Voters in the 20th Judicial Circuit elected the first woman to serve as the circuit’s prosecuting attorney Tuesday.

Carol Crews, 36, held a strong lead over Zach Throneberry, 31, in the nonpartisan race, according to complete but unofficial election returns for the circuit, which includes Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties.

Unofficial vote totals were:

Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,068 Throneberry . . . . . . . . . 20,503

“I am grateful that the people of this district have put their trust in me to serve as Prosecuting Attorney,” Crews said in a statement late Tuesday night. “I look forward to working with the best staff in Arkansas to seek justice for victims in our district.”

Crews is currently the circuit’s chief deputy prosecutor and has been a deputy prosecutor for 11 years.

Crews will succeed Luke Ferguson, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Cody Hiland. Hiland left the office to become U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Throneberry, now a private attorney, was a deputy prosecutor in the Fort Smith-based 12th Judicial Circuit for three years.

The 20th Judicial prosecutor is paid $159,691.20 annually and serves a four-year term.

Tuesday’s election was a runoff resulting from a three-way race in May in which Crews and Throneberry, both of Conway, led Jim Hensley of Wooster.

Crews campaigned largely on her experience handling major crimes. She suggested Throneberry was “an inexperienced attorney” with little courtroom experience while she said she has “a proven track record of being tough on violent crimes and crimes against children.”

In August, Crews handled a case that led to a Faulkner County jury’s handing down the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend at a Conway motel.

The last time a Faulkner County jury sentenced anyone to death was in 1989, but that case was later overturned and ended in a 20-year prison sentence.

Throneberry said he had prosecuted drug, property and violent crimes, including sex offenses, in Sebastian County.

Throneberry campaigned on his leadership ability. He said he would take “the politics out of the office” and said it had become “a bit of a political springboard” to higher offices.