{ "id": 1342393, "name": "William BENTON v. The Honorable Jim GUNTER, Circuit Judge on Assignment; Janice Roberts and Jerry Riley; Helen McClinton Bradley, County and Probate Clerk for Jefferson County; and Jefferson County Board of Election Commissioners", "name_abbreviation": "Benton v. Gunter", "decision_date": "2000-11-06", "docket_number": "00-1156", "first_page": "543", "last_page": "548", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "342 Ark. 543" }, { "type": "parallel", "cite": "29 S.W.3d 719" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ark.", "id": 8808, "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 34, "name_long": "Arkansas", "name": "Ark." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "328 Ark. 223", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 50284 ], "weight": 3, "year": 1997, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "95" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/328/0223-01" ] }, { "cite": "300 Ark. 225", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1886753 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1989, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/300/0225-01" ] }, { "cite": "318 Ark. 637", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1455865 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1994, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/318/0637-01" ] }, { "cite": "328 Ark. 194", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 50385 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1997, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/328/0194-01" ] }, { "cite": "340 Ark. 89", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1365282 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "94" }, { "page": "560" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ark/340/0089-01" ] }, { "cite": "292 Ark. 47", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1871145 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1987, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "the office of municipal judge is a municipal office" }, { "parenthetical": "the office of municipal judge is a municipal office" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ark/292/0047-01" ] }, { "cite": "318 Ark. 402", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1455954 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1994, "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ark/318/0402-01" ] }, { "cite": "304 Ark. 619", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 1880885 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1991, "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ark/304/0619-01" ] }, { "cite": "Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-108", "category": "laws:leg_statute", "reporter": "Ark. Code Ann.", "year": 1999, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "(dddd)(2)(A)" } ], "opinion_index": 2 }, { "cite": "Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-120", "category": "laws:leg_statute", "reporter": "Ark. Code Ann.", "year": 1999, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "(b)(2)", "parenthetical": "emphasis added" } ], "opinion_index": 2 }, { "cite": "328 Ark. 223", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ark.", "case_ids": [ 50284 ], "weight": 4, "year": 1997, "opinion_index": 2, "case_paths": [ "/ark/328/0223-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 520, "char_count": 11006, "ocr_confidence": 0.746, "pagerank": { "raw": 9.96172198649382e-08, "percentile": 0.5375792179389609 }, "sha256": "a5a67b6d1b72c93245128d9b5a5d0755befc7ed71dffdd01f7b17bf90a1e3d89", "simhash": "1:3a265027d9c85532", "word_count": 1777 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T20:01:02.266586+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [ "Glaze, J., concurs.", "Thornton, J., dissents." ], "parties": [ "William BENTON v. The Honorable Jim GUNTER, Circuit Judge on Assignment; Janice Roberts and Jerry Riley; Helen McClinton Bradley, County and Probate Clerk for Jefferson County; and Jefferson County Board of Election Commissioners" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "W.h. \u201cDub\u201d Arnold, Chief Justice.\nAppellant William Benton filed the instant appeal challenging the Jefferson County Circuit Court\u2019s determination that he was ineligible to be a candidate for the position of Second Division Pine Bluff Municipal Court Judge. Our jurisdiction is authorized pursuant to Ark. R. Sup. Ct. 1-2(4) (2000). On September 28, 2000, appellees Janice Roberts and Jerry Riley, residents of Pine Bluff, filed a complaint and petition for writ of mandamus and declaratory judgment, urging the trial court to disqualify Benton as a candidate because he failed to satisfy the constitutional requirements for that office. Specifically, appellees complained that he was not qualified to run because he was not a qualified elector of the City of Pine Bluff.\nThe trial court agreed and found that Benton was not a \u201cqualified elector\u201d of the City of Pine Bluff pursuant to Ark. Const., Art. 19, sec. 3, and Ark. Code Ann. section 16-17-108 (dddd)(2)(A). Benton is a resident of White Hall, located in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Accordingly, the court ordered that Benton\u2019s name be removed from the ballot as a nominee for the second-division municipal judge\u2019s race, that he not be certified or declared eligible as a candidate in the general election, and that any votes cast for him not be counted or certified to the appropriate election officials. Additionally, the court ruled that no certificate of election be issued to Benton.\nOn appeal, Benton maintains that he is a qualified elector because his residence in Jefferson County subjects him to the Pine Bluff Municipal Court\u2019s jurisdiction. In light of the pending election on November 7, 2000, this court granted a stay of the trial court\u2019s judgment and appellant\u2019s petition for an accelerated appeal per Ark. R. Sup. Ct. 6-1 (b) (2000). The sole point on appeal questions whether residency in Pine Bluff is required to be eligible as a candidate for the position of municipal judge for the Second Division of the Pine Bluff Municipal Court. Recognizing that the legislature has created a disparity between election procedures for the two divisions of the Pine Bluff Municipal Court, we must conclude that residency in Pine Bluff is required for the position of second-division municipal judge. Therefore, we affirm the trial court\u2019s order removing Benton from the ballot.\nI. Motion to strike\nAs a preliminary matter, we consider appellant\u2019s motion to strike a portion of appellees\u2019 brief addressing the merits of the trial court\u2019s rulings regarding the remaining candidate on the ballot, Waymond Brown. Although appellees have briefed the issue of Brown\u2019s eligibility and have argued in support of the trial court\u2019s findings, we need not consider these arguments on appeal. Appellant Benton advances no argument on the issue of Brown\u2019s eligibility and presents no basis for removing Brown from the ballot. Accordingly, we grant the motion to strike.\nII. \u201cQualified elector\u201d requirement\nThe primary issue before us is whether appellant Benton is ineligible to run for the Second Division Pine Bluff Municipal Judge seat because he is not a resident of Pine Bluff. Ark. Const., Art. 19, sec. 3, entitled \u201cElected or appointed officers \u2014 Qualifications of an elector required\u201d provides that:\nNo persons shall be elected to or appointed to fill a vacancy in any office who does not possess the qualifications of an elector.\n(Emphasis added.) Further, Ark. Code Ann. section 16-17-108(dddd)(2)(A) states, in part, that:\nThe qualified electors of the city of Pine Bluff shall elect in addition to the presently elected municipal judge an additional municipal judge for the Second Division of the Pine Bluff Municipal Court.\n(Emphasis added.)\nWe must examine current statutory enactments to guide us in interpreting the constitutional requirement in the instant case. The two relevant statutes are Ark. Code Ann. sections 16-17\u2014 108(dddd)(2)(A) and 16-17-120, both amended in 1999. Clearly conflicting with the former statute, section 16-17-120(a) provides that municipal judges shall be elected by the electors of the entire county and section 16 \u2014 17\u2014120(b) (2) states that:\nAny candidate for municipal court judge shall meet all requirements now set by law, but residency in the municipality shall no longer be a requirement.\n(Emphasis added.) Although the legislature expressed a general intent to abandon the city-residency requirement for municipal-court-judge candidates and electors, section 16-17-120 is a general statute. On the other hand, section 16-17-108(dddd)(2)(A) is a specific statute addressing the unique election requirements established by the legislature for the second-division Pine Bluff municipal-judge position.\nWe have long held that a general statute must yield when there is a specific statute involving the particular subject matter. Shelton v. Fiser, 340 Ark. 89, 94, 8 S.W.3d 557, 560 (citing Board of Trustees v. Stodola, 328 Ark. 194, 942 S.W.2d 255 (1997); Donoho v. Donoho, 318 Ark. 637, 887 S.W.2d 290 (1994); Conway Corp. v. Construction Eng\u2019rs, Inc., 300 Ark. 225, 782 S.W.2d 36 (1989)). This principle governs the issue before us and compels us to affirm the trial court\u2019s order determining that residency in the City of Pine Bluff is required to be eligible as a nominee for Pine Bluff second-division municipal judge. Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. section 16-17-108(dddd)(2)(A) (Repl. 1999), we affirm the trial court\u2019s order removing appellant\u2019s name from the ballot.\nAffirmed.\nGlaze, J., concurs.\nThornton, J., dissents.\nSee our decision in Foster v. Jefferson County Bd. of Election Comm\u2019rs., 328 Ark. 223, 944 S.W.2d 93 (1997), where we upheld county-wide election for Pine Bluff\u2019s first municipal-judge position. We acknowledged that a county-wide election remedied the inequity caused by denying county residents, whose taxes fund the Pine Bluff Municipal Court, the opportunity to vote and be represented in the election for municipal judge. Foster, 328 Ark. at 227, 944 S.W.2d at 95.", "type": "majority", "author": "W.h. \u201cDub\u201d Arnold, Chief Justice." }, { "text": "Tom Glaze, Justice,\nconcurring. I concur. In pertinent part, Art. 19, \u00a7 3, provides that \u201cno person shall be elected to fill a vacancy in any office who does not possess the qualifications of an elector.\u201d In interpreting Ark. Const, art. 19, \u00a7 3, the court has held that the person (elector) to be elected shall be a resident in the political subdivision to be served by the elected official. (Emphasis added.) Davis v. Holt, 304 Ark. 619, 804 S.W.2d 362 (1991). Furthermore, when confronted with the issue of whether a municipal court vacancy filled by a countywide election is a county or municipal office (political subdivision), this court held it was a municipal, not county, office. Oliver v. Simons, 318 Ark. 402, 885 S.W.2d 859 (1994); see also Beshear v. Clark, 292 Ark. 47, 728 S.W.2d 165 (1987) (the office of municipal judge is a municipal office).\nFrom the above, whether a person who is running to fill a municipal court vacancy must be a qualified elector of the municipality is a constitutional issue, not just a statutory one. Any statute that conflicts with our constitution is a nullity. In short, this court has held that, under the Arkansas Constitution, a person must be a resident of the municipality if he or she is to be elected to a vacancy in an office in that municipality. Because the appellant William Benton admits he is not a domiciliary or resident of Pine Bluff, the trial court decision must be affirmed, and Benton\u2019s name should be removed from the ballot. If the ballots have already been cast in the race, they should not be counted or certified.\nThe appellant relies on language in Davis where this court said that the Arkansas Constitution requires a residence in the political subdivision to be \u201cserved\u201d by the elected office. He suggests that since the Pine Bluff Municipal Court serves the county, he can be a resident of the county and still comply with art. 19, \u00a7 3. As already discussed, this court has interpreted the Arkansas Constitution to say the person must be a resident of the political subdivision (here municipality). Nowhere in the Arkansas Constitution can I find any language that permits a person to be a nonresident of the political subdivision to which he or she seeks to be elected, or permits the person to reside outside that political subdivision or office, even though that office may also incidentally benefit or serve electors outside that subdivision\u2019s boundaries.", "type": "concurrence", "author": "Tom Glaze, Justice," }, { "text": "Ray Thornton, Justice,\ndissenting. I respectfully dissent from the majority\u2019s holding that, notwithstanding the latest legislative enactment establishing the requirements to run for the office, William Benton of Jefferson County cannot run for a position on the municipal court exercising jurisdiction over Jefferson County.\nThe latest legislative enactment states: \u201cAny candidate for municipal court judge shall meet all requirements now set by law, but residency in the municipality shall no longer be a requirement.\u201d Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-120(b)(2) (Repl. 1999) (emphasis added). The majority concludes that this statute, being general, cannot override the provisions of an earlier statute, Ark. Code Ann. \u00a7 16-17-108(dddd)(2)(A) (Repl. 1999) that states in part:\nThe qualified electors of the city of Pine Bluff shall elect in addition to the presently elected municipal judge an additional municipal judge for the Second Division of the Pine Bluff Municipal Court.\nId.(emphasis added).\nWe have recently determined who are the qualified electors for the Pine Bluff Municipal Judge. In Foster v. Jefferson County Bd. of Election Comm\u2019rs., 328 Ark. 223, 944 S.W.2d 93 (1997), we upheld countywide elections for the judge of the Pine Bluff Municipal Court, based upon a legislative enactment which stated in pertinent part:\nThe office of Municipal Judge in any Municipal Court ... [in Jefferson County] . . . shall be voted upon by the qualified electors of the entire county ...[.]\nAct 181 of 1955. This decision remains in effect until and unless this court reverses Foster, supra.\nI believe that any person qualified as an elector for Pine Bluff Municipal Judge should not be barred as a candidate for that office. The reasoning of Foster, supra, that county residents should have the right to vote for a judicial position, supported in part by countywide taxes remains valid and reflects sound principles of public policy. Those principles have been reflected by the latest act of the legislature declaring specifically that residency in the city of Pine Bluff is not required to seek office as judge of this municipal court.\nI respectfully dissent.", "type": "dissent", "author": "Ray Thornton, Justice," } ], "attorneys": [ "Evans Benton, P.A., by: Evans Benton; and John W. Cone, for appellant.", "J. Slocum Pickell, for appellees." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "William BENTON v. The Honorable Jim GUNTER, Circuit Judge on Assignment; Janice Roberts and Jerry Riley; Helen McClinton Bradley, County and Probate Clerk for Jefferson County; and Jefferson County Board of Election Commissioners\n00-1156\n29 S.W.3d 719\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered November 6, 2000\nEvans Benton, P.A., by: Evans Benton; and John W. Cone, for appellant.\nJ. Slocum Pickell, for appellees." }, "file_name": "0543-01", "first_page_order": 567, "last_page_order": 572 }