Candidates speak to Bella Vista GOP
Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
BELLA VISTA — Some Bella Vista Republicans led off their Sept. 22 meeting by hearing nonpartisan candidates for a judgeship.
Rogers district judge candidates Ben Lipscomb and Brad Karren led off the guest speakers at the meeting, which was at Concordia in Bella Vista.
After a reorganization of the judiciary that began in 2000, Benton County residents will begin this year to vote for district judges countywide. The changes will affect elections of district judges for Bentonville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Benton County West.
Almost all Arkansas counties have been electing district judges countywide for some time, but in Benton County, district judges have previously been elected from four districts.
Lipscomb said he was city attorney in Rogers for three terms and has 20 years’ experience as a prosecutor. He began as a prosecutor under former prosecutor (now judge ) David Clinger, Lipscomb said.
His positions have given him administrative experience and a wide array of judicial experience, all of which will serve him well if he’s elected, he said.
Lipscomb has experience before district and circuit courts, before the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court, in the federal district court and before the Eighth Circuit Court in St. Louis, Mo. In fact, he has experience with courts at every level except for the U. S. Supreme Court, he sad.
Lipscomb’s opponent, Brad Karren, also addressed the group.
The Rogers District Court has been a busy one, and he expects it to continue to be busy, Karren said. If he is elected, he is prepared and eager to make some changes for the better in procedures, he said. If elected, he would like to create night court and to begin teen court, and allow some people to pay fines by using the Internet, Karren said.
He has had experience as a deputy prosecutor for Benton County, as a-small-claimscourt judge and ran his own law firm, Karren said. This varied experience has given him the temperament needed for a judge’s job, he said.
Lisa Gaddy, a candidate for Bentonville District Court judge, also addressed the group. Her opponent, incumbent Judge John Skaggs, was not present.
Michelle Blaty, a candidate for District 10 justice of the peace, and Dave Bisbee, a candidate for Benton County judge, also addressed the group.
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