story by Ryan Saylor
rsaylor@thecitywire.com
Local candidate filings concluded Monday (March 3) at noon across the state, even as icy roads made traveling treacherous throughout much of the state.
The Crawford and Sebastian County Courthouses remained open, as required by state law, with county clerks in both counties saying candidates continued to show up even with the bad road conditions.
"We just have to be here by law," said Sebastian County Clerk Sharon Brooks. "There's nothing in the (state) code that (says anything) about if we have inclement weather. It's my understanding, and this is just what some (other counties have) said, they might come in and some would extend to Tuesday for the county clerks. But I came in."
Alex Reed, press secretary for the Arkansas Secretary of State's office in Little Rock, said state law was clear that the filing period was the only time candidates could file to run for office, effectively eliminating any discussion of extending the period due to the weather and road conditions.
"The filing period is a week long, in case there is inclement weather," he said, adding that from where he was stationed in Little Rock, candidate filings have been slow on what is typically the busiest day of the period.
"We've had about 10 (candidates file) so far this morning, including a candidate for Congress and a candidate for attorney general," Reed said. "The last day of the filing is usually a heavy day for filing since the other days are light. But I'm not sure how the weather is going to affect people's travel."
For anyone who may have attempted to journey to one of the local courthouses Monday, they better have made it in before the clock struck noon since no exceptions are allowed due to the weather, according to Reed.
In Crawford County, County Clerk Teresa Armer said her office has a long standing tradition of abandoning the office at noon, regardless of the weather.
"We always close the office at noon and are gone for an hour and a half to make sure no one tries to say we snuck someone in (after hours)," she said, adding that during her 21 years in the office and almost four as county clerk, it has been an annual event.
Local races in Crawford and Sebastian Counties do not appear to be eventful, as only one justice of the peace race in Crawford County and races for treasurer/collector, assessor and district 7 justice of the peace in Sebastian County are the only contests of interest.
Following is a list of candidates for office in Crawford and Sebastian Counties.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
County Assessor
• Assessor Ronnie Dale, R
Circuit Clerk
• Circuit Clerk Sharon Blount-Baker, D
County Clerk
• County Clerk Teresa Campbell Armer, D
County Collector
• Collector Kevin Pixley, R
County Coroner
• Coroner Pam Wells, D
County Judge
• Judge John Hall, D
County Sheriff
• Sheriff Ron Brown, D
County Treasurer
• Treasurer Beverly Pyle, R
Justice of the Peace, District 1
• Justice of the Peace Jason Cox, R
Justice of the Peace, District 2
• Justice of the Peace Shane Griffin, R
Justice of the Peace, District 3
• Justice of the Peace David Rofkahr, R
Justice of the Peace, District 4
• Lloyd Cole, R
Justice of the Peace, District 5
• Justice of the Peace Cathy Gifford, D
Justice of the Peace, DIstrict 6
• Connie Beyerle, Independent
Justice of the Peace, District 7
• Justice of the Peace Mary Jan Blount, D
Justice of the Peace, District 8
• Justice of the Peace James Lane, R
• Tia Woodruff, R
Justice of the Peace, District 9
• Justice of the Peace Stanley Clark, D
Justice of the Peace, District 10
• Justice of the Peace Cleo Coatney, R
Justice of the Peace, District 11
• Justice of the Peace Carrie Jernigan, R
Justice of the Peace, District 12
• Justice of the Peace Elaina Damante, R
Justice of the Peace, District 13
• Justice of the Peace Butch Barnes, Independent
SEBASTIAN COUNTY
County Assessor
• Ken Colley, R
• Assessor Becky Yandell, R
Circuit Clerk
• Circuit Clerk Denora Coomer, R
County Clerk
• County Clerk Sharon Brooks, R
County Coroner
• Terry Campbell, R
County Judge
• Judge David Hudson, R
County Sheriff
• Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck, D
County Treasurer/Collector
• Steve Hotz, R
• Treasurer/Collector Judith Miller, R
Justice of the Peace, District 1
• Justice of the Peace Johnny Hobbs, R
Justice of the Peace, District 2
• No candidate
Justice of the Peace, District 3
• Justice of the Peace Shawn Looper, R
Justice of the Peace, District 4
• Justice of the Peace Tony Crockett, R
Justice of the Peace, District 5
• Justice of the Peace John Spradlin, R
Justice of the Peace, DIstrict 6
• Justice of the Peace Danny Aldridge, R
Justice of the Peace, District 7
• Justice of the Peace Jim Medley, R
• Jim Perry, D
Justice of the Peace, District 8
• Justice of the Peace Don Carter, D
Justice of the Peace, District 9
• Justice of the Peace Rhonda Royal, D
Justice of the Peace, District 10
• Justice of the Peace Dickie Robertson, D
Justice of the Peace, District 11
• Justice of the Peace Linda Murry, D
Justice of the Peace, District 12
• Justice of the Peace Bob Schwartz, R
Justice of the Peace, District 13
• Rep. Denny Altes, R