Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Jan. 2, 2025 – Former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Brimhall was sworn in as Second Judicial Circuit Judge, Division 4, on Wednesday, despite some concern about his ability to serve after his long legal battle in 2024.
He and other elected officials were sworn in by Second Judicial Administrative Judge Pamela Honeycutt at the Craighead County Courthouse in Jonesboro. Brimhall defeated Curtis Walker Jr., of Blytheville, during the March election to receive the seat.
In May, Brimhall resigned from his position as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, after being charged with one count of aggravated assault on a family or household member, a Class D felony, as well as third-degree domestic battery, to which he initially pled not guilty.
Then in June, Brimhall’s ex-wife, Lark Montgomery, filed for guardianship of the alleged victim in the May 3 incident. The petition for guardianship was filed on June 3 and granted on June 21. Stipulations of the guardianship included child support and no contact with the minor until several conditions were met, including the completion of a drug/alcohol assessment, wearing an alcohol monitoring device for a minimum of six months or longer, and completing an anger management program.
Finally, on Sept. 18, Brimhall entered a negotiated guilty plea to harassment, a Class A misdemeanor, before specially appointed retired Circuit Judge Robert Edwards in Craighead County Circuit Court. This plea agreement dismissed one of the charges and amended the other to the harassment charge.
After this, Brimhall was sentenced to a one-year suspended imposition of sentence, which ordered him to continue an alcohol/drug rehabilitation program and anger management program as instructed, continue with a program administered by the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program Foundation, complete forty hours of community service before Dec. 31, 2024, prohibited from drinking alcohol to excess, pay a $1,000 fine plus $190 in court costs and write a letter of apology to the victim by Oct. 1, 2024. The agreement also released the “no contact” order.
Brimhall was represented by attorneys Bill Stanley, Randel Miller and Paul Ford.
Stanley released a statement following the September hearing which stated that Brimhall had chosen to resolve the matter by pleading to a misdemeanor charge of harassment, believing it was in the overall best interest of his family, and that he looked forward to reconciling damaged relationships. Stanley added that Brimhall looked forward to taking the bench and fulfilling the obligations and responsibilities the community had elected him to fulfill.
However, in October, Prosecuting Attorney Sonia F. Hagood sent a letter to Judge Honeycutt and copied to other circuit judges in the Second Judicial District, questioning whether or not Brimhall was fit to serve.
In the letter, which was forwarded to JRN anonymously, Hagood said, “Given Mr. Brimhall’s criminal conduct and his actions since May 3, 2024, I have no confidence he can provide the citizens of this judicial district even the appearance of a fair and impartial judge. “We are a self-regulating profession; failing to address wrongdoing undermines the very principles of justice we are sworn to uphold,” she wrote. “In my opinion, to stay silent on this issue is to be complicit in his conduct… I pray the Court will consider the impact Mr. Brimhall’s actions have on the Second Judicial District.”
Drew Blankenship, an attorney at the Arkansas Ethics Commission, told JRN on Thursday that while any felony or misdemeanor with infamous intent would have prevented him running for or holding an office, a misdemeanor for harassment would not.
Blankenship pointed to Arkansas Code § 21-8-305 (2023), which discusses the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees. This code states that if a person has pleaded guilty, nolo contendere, or has been found guilty of a public trust crime, he or she shall not file as a candidate for, run as a candidate for, or hold a constitutional office, a county elected office, or an elected office in a municipality, city, township, or other political subdivision of the state.
Therefore, since Brimhall initially plead not guilty to the felony aggravated assault charge before negotiating the guilty plea to the misdemeanor harassment charge, he is still able to hold the office for which he was elected.