Judicial election season begins as 2 candidates announce plans

With Arkansas’ judicial election season kicking off Monday, Little Rock District Judge Melanie Martin and Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch announced election plans.

Welch, a judge on the 6th Judicial Circuit, which also includes Perry County, for the past 10 years, will run for the Pulaski County District judge post currently held by the retiring Wayne Gruber.

At 72, Welch would have to forfeit his retirement under state law if he ran for another term on the circuit bench, a prohibition that does not apply to district judges. Now in his second term as the 16th Division judge, Welch said that he wants to continue serving the public.

“Like I do every day as circuit judge, I will keep an open mind when hearing cases and rule in a fair and impartial manner when serving as district judge,” he said in a news release. “Serving as circuit judge gives me the experience and temperament to become our next district judge. I know first-hand how my rulings have an immediate and profound impact on those who appear before the court, and sometimes the community as a whole.”

As a circuit judge, one of five presiding over civil suits, Welch is expected to hear at least 1,193 cases per year. A civil-rights attorney before his election, Welch was honored in 2021 by the Pulaski County Bar Association as “Circuit Judge of the Year.” The Bowen law school at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock in 2018 recognized him as the Professional Mentor of the Year, and in 2015, Welch was named “Trial Judge of the Year” by the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association.

Martin, the district judge since 2019, said she is seeking the 7th Division circuit judgeship, now held by interim Judge Karen Whatley, who was appointed by then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson to the post when Barry Sims retired in 2022. State law prohibits Whatley, as an appointed judge, from seeking election to that position.

Martin, 55, was first elected district judge in 2018 to fill the seat left vacant when Alice Lightle retired. She was reelected without opposition to a full four-year term in 2020. Before her election, she had spent 26 years as a deputy prosecutor in the 6th Circuit, rising to the rank of senior deputy, a post she had held for 13 years.

Martin manages a staff of 23 and presides over the largest district court criminal docket in the state, averaging 6,000 new criminal cases annually.

She presides over misdemeanor cases, and arraigns suspects charged with felonies in Little Rock. Further, Martin also reviews all affidavits and approves the issuance of search warrants and arrest warrants. Also, Martin presides over various civil cases upon referral from the circuit courts.

Among her accomplishments as district judge, Martin implemented the Pulaski County Mental Health Court as a pilot program approved by the state Supreme Court to provide mental health services at the misdemeanor level.

Arkansas’ judicial election season began on Monday one year ahead of the March 2024 elections, said David Sachar, the head of the state’s watchdog agency, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.

Prospective judicial candidates can announce their intentions to run, but they cannot start fundraising until Sept. 7, six months before the election, and then can raise money for 7½ months.

Sachar recommends that candidates and their staff review the Code of Judicial Conduct, particularly Canon 4, which covers running for office. He said the commission will offer campaign training sessions on dates yet to be scheduled in August and September.