Judge rules for second time in month Hall legally unfit for office

A specially appointed judge in Drew County ruled Friday for the second time this month that state House candidate Jim Hall is legally unfit for office because of a misdemeanor conviction, and the judge ordered votes cast for the Republican not to be counted in November.

Less than two weeks after issuing an order to strike Hall’s name from the ballot, special Circuit Judge David Laser said Hall’s hastened attempt Aug. 31 to expunge a hot-check conviction could not be applied to the current election cycle. By pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge in May, Hall disqualified himself, Laser ruled.

Laser’s ruling means the Democratic candidate for the seat, retired Army officer and attorney LeAnne Burch of Monticello, is running unopposed. Hall’s name will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, because most of the ballots in Drew and neighboring Ashley County — which make up the District 9 seat Hall is seeking — have already begun the printing process with his name included.

Hall said Friday that he plans to appeal Laser’s ruling, adding that he is seeking to hire a lawyer after representing himself in the case.

The Republican Party distanced itself from Hall last month after the candidate’s legal issue became public.

Hall disputed claims that he purposely wrote a bad check, which he said was used to purchase a $500 incubator for his son in 2014 in Faulkner County. He has accused local and state Republican officials of conspiring against him, while state Democrats accused the GOP this week of supporting Hall’s bid to remain on the ballot.

Specifically, Democratic Party attorney Chris Burks said Faulkner County prosecutor Cody Hiland, a Republican, helped hurry along an expungement of Hall’s record in that county, even though state law requires such motions wait 90 days to be approved by a court.

Burks represented former state Rep. Johnnie Bolin, a Monticello Democrat, in the lawsuit seeking to have Hall removed from the ballot. Burks submitted records showing Hall’s motion to seal the hot-check case was approved by a judge in Faulkner County in 12 days. Also, the expungement records indicated Hall pleaded no contest, conflicting with records showing Hall pleaded guilty.

Hall used the expungement in an attempt to have Laser reconsider his Sept. 13 ruling that Hall’s conviction amounted to an infamous crime, thus making him ineligible for office under the state constitution. Laser agreed to the second hearing, but confirmed his previous ruling.

“It’s really a disgrace what happened in Faulkner County, and the judge saw right through that,” Burks said. Earlier in the week, state Democratic Party Chairman Doyle Webb released a statement calling for an investigation of Hiland’s office.

Hiland said his office had no reason to object to Hall’s motion to seal the record in the hot-check case, and he denied ever meeting the candidate. On Friday, Hiland said Democrats were the ones attempting to make the case political.

“To blame these allegations on us is just categorically untrue,” Hiland said, adding that the prosecutor’s office’s job is to send such motions to the judge if there are no objections.

In an emailed statement, the Republican Party said Friday that it had nothing to do with Hall, noting previous requests to have him drop out of the race.

In addition to the Democrats’ lawsuit, Hall was convicted of harassing his ex-wife, her attorney and his former pastor in 2015. Hall has appealed the misdemeanor convictions — which would not affect his ability to run for office — to the Arkansas Supreme Court.