BENTON - Five lawyers vying for two circuit judge seats in Saline County say they have the temperament and legal chops to run a fair court.
Bobby McCallister and Brent Standridge are competing for a seat being vacated by a retiring judge. Hayward Battle, Robert Herzfeld and Paul White are seeking a new seat created to ease caseloads in the growing county.
Both candidates for the Division 1 circuit judge seat being vacated by Robert Garrett have held a variety of part-time and special judgeships. And they've both prosecuted cases.
McCallister, 43, a Benton lawyer, said what sets him apart is his community involvement beyond the courtroom.
He was the Benton School Board president from 2005 to 2006 and served on the board for four years. He said he makes a point to get to know people by involving himself in a community activities.
He works part time with the Saline County prosecutor's office, handling misdemeanor cases in Benton, Haskell and Bryant. He also has prosecuted juvenile cases in Saline County.
He was the City Court judge in Haskell from 1999 to 2004, a part-time job, and has been a special judge in several courtrooms.
He said it "just felt natural" being on the bench.
"I'm a big believer that no matter what situation someone finds themselves in, they deserve the respect of the court," he said.
The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct, which investigates complaints against lawyers, reprimanded him after getting complaints about his lack of communication with his client in a 1995 lawsuit. He also was found to have failed to properly serve paperwork in the case.
He is married with three daughters and a son.
Standridge, 47, a Benton lawyer, said what gives him a leg up on the race is his work as a fulltime judge in North Little Rock.
He was appointed to the bench in 2003 and handled traffic cases for a year.
"As a judge, you have to be fair and impartial and consistent, something I think you get by doing it day in and day out," he said.
Before that, he was the chief deputy prosecuting attorney in Saline County from 1997 to 2003.
He also has been a special justice for the state Supreme Court on three cases. He lost his bid for Supreme Court justice in the Republican primary in 2000.
He said he would bring to the bench a respect for the three branches of government.
Though not a daily issue at the trial-court level, Standridge said he doesn't believe in judges acting as policymakers.
"It's not the judges' role to try and change it," he said.
He has law offices in both Benton and Mount Ida, where he is from. He moved to Benton last year.
He is married with a stepdaughter and a son.
In the Division 4 race, Battle, 57, said that he has about as much law experience as his two opponents combined.
He started his law career as an assistant in the attorney general's office in 1983 and later oversaw parole officers for the state parole administrator. He had a private practice in Little Rock before joining the state Office of Child Support Enforcement, where he's been for the past decade.
He's a lawyer specialist, handling cases in Saline, Grant and Hot Spring counties - a role he said suits him better than representing suspects in criminal cases.
Battle, who also is a pastor at two churches, may be making history in Saline County as he's believed to be the first black candidate to seek a countywide office.
"If people in Saline County are as progressive as I think they are, they will look beyond color," he said.
This is Battle's third time seeking elected office. He lost a bid for Pulaski County Circuit Court in 1990 and for Little Rock Board of Directors in 1992.
He's the only candidate of the three seeking the Division 4 seat who has been reprimanded by the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct.
Complaints in 1993 and 1996 led to a caution and a reprimand.
He moved from west Little Rock to Bryant last year. He is married with four children.
Herzfeld, the youngest candidate at 34, has the most experience with felony criminal cases.
He was the prosecuting attorney in Saline County from 2003-07.
He has a private practice in Benton but continues to work part time prosecuting criminal cases in the 13th judicial district, which includes six south Arkansas counties.
While prosecutor, Herzfeld got into a public spat with the Saline County sheriff during an investigation in which he alleged the sheriff's office had a "slush fund."
That was later proven false, but the friction between the two made headlines.
Herzfeld said he's proud of what came out of his inquiries into the sheriff's office, pointing to a theft conviction of a bookkeeper, improved evidence-storage procedures and changes in contraband gun sales.
But he said his role on the bench would be different, his approach more low-key.
"I think it's important to be fair and courteous and wise and taking the time to listen," he said. "I can promise I will make every effort possible to be the kind of judge I would want to be in front of as an attorney."Herzfeld takes credit for helping to implement drug court and for starting the state's first-ever organized effort to crack down on parents who fail to pay child support.
In 2006, he lost a Democratic primary bid for attorney general.
He is married with two sons.
White, 41, of Benton said seeking a judgeship is part of the "natural progression" of his 16 years practicing law.
He has been an assistant city attorney in Little Rock and has served as a special judge in Haskell and Bauxite city courts and in Saline County Circuit Court.
In his private practice in Bryant, he spends most of his time working on wills and estate planning.
But he said he's been in courtrooms across the state on a variety of issues.
White said he is most familiar with civil litigation and would have to catch up on criminal procedures.
He sees the role of a judge to simply "dispense justice" and not set policies.
"I don't want to grab headline as a Circuit Court judge," he said. "I want to be fair and objective and reasonable and follow that law."
He is married with two sons.
If none of the candidates in the three-way race wins the majority of votes May 20, the two with the most votes face a runoff Nov. 4.
Circuit judges serve six-year terms. The job comes with a $131,206 annual salary.
Arkansas, Pages 9, 16 on 05/05/2008