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      I am one of ten circuit judges in the Second Judicial Circuit - a nine courthouse, six-county circuit, which includes Craighead (Eastern and Western Districts), Greene, Clay, (Eastern and Western Districts), Poinsett, Mississippi (Chickasawba and Osceola Districts), and Crittenden Counties. It is my lot, by plan in effect per Supreme Court Administrative Order 14, to cover my share of the civil dockets in Jonesboro, Osceola and Blytheville; a portion of the criminal dockets in Harrisburg, Paragould and Marion; and a lesser share of the domestic/probate dockets in Jonesboro, Osceola, Blytheville, Marion, as well as cases in other counties when a conflict arises as relates to one of my colleagues to whom a case is originally signed by random drawing. Jonesboro, my home base, is roughly in the center of the district, giving rise to travel time of thirty minutes to an hour each way, depending on the venue involved on a particular day. Travel time does not take away from court time, however, given that our travel is done before and after normal court working hours.
     My typical day goes something like this: I generally get up early, anywhere from 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. Shortly thereafter I ordinarily start my day with a brief period of prayer and meditation. Thereafter, I usually go to the computer and tend to some e-mail, check the weather, and then have a brief period of contact with my wife, Ann. If I haven't already done so, I usually grab some sort of energy bar to help give me some "get up and go" before a brief workout on the treadmill, time permitting. After showering, shaving, etc., I dress for the day, depending upon what is in store and where I am heading. If it is the first day of a jury trial anywhere, I will ordinarily go with "full dress," which for me is a dark suit, conservative tie, white or light blue shirt, and lace up shoes with a shine. On any other day I may well turn up in jeans, boots, a shirt with some color, a vintage tie or something else. After I put the robe on, I usually pretty much look "the part" no matter what I am wearing underneath, so long as I have on a shirt and tie. On a traveling day, I take some time to brew coffee for myself and my court reporter, Dianne Gibson - a valued and trusted friend and very good at what she does to boot.
     We will be working criminal pre-trial in Marion today, about sixty miles from Jonesboro with a little over an hour's travel involved each way, assuming usual traffic getting out of Jonesboro. Coffee is done and in "go" cups. After doing my "goodbye" with Ann, I head out the drive to go down the road to pick up Dianne. It is about 7:50 a.m. this morning. I have learned from Brenda (Brenda Welch - my friend, trusted and extremely competent case coordinator who moved from the law firm with me when I took office in January of 1999) that I am scheduled to participate in conference calls from attorneys between 8:00 and 8:30 - one relates to a discovery problem; the other is a continuance request by one of the parties in a case that is soon set for pre-trial. I will hopefully be able to get these accomplished before losing a cell signal in what I call the Payneway/Tyronza triangle. As things work out today I get both of these calls done with issues decided in time to check back in with Brenda. This morning we talk about some scheduling issues and the status of some cases which affect scheduling in other cases, and go over as best we can a day ahead of time tomorrow's schedule. After taking a call from an attorney to the effect that he is going to be a little late for court in Marion, I make sure the cell phone is in the vibrate mode so as to be able to monitor incoming calls as they come in while I am on the bench without being embarrassed in my own courtroom by the ringing/singing/playing of an audible alert. Today I end up with a little bit of time to visit with Dianne before arriving at the Crittenden County Courthouse around 9:00.
     We park in one of two "circuit judge" designated parking spaces on the back side of the courthouse. I offload my satchel, robe and Dianne's equipment and we head upstairs, she usually by the elevator with her equipment, and me usually taking the stairs. Before stopping to visit in the clerk's office, I head down the hall to the door that leads to the judge's bench, and after hanging my robe on the door, walk into the judge's area, pitch my satchel under the bench, and look over the docket for the day. Today's list of cases is three or four pages long, single-spaced, which is the usual here for a criminal pre-trial. My thought after seeing the length of the docket is simply that we will do the best that we can to do as much as we can today.
     It's about twenty minutes until court time. At this point I grab a cup of coffee in the coffee/smoking room just off the space between the only two courtrooms in the Crittenden County Courthouse, and head to the circuit clerk's office to make some brief contact with the folks there, which group ordinarily includes Donna Palmer, the Circuit Clerk, known to most as "Ms. Donna," a veteran clerk and highly competent and accommodating, along with her very abled staff. I continue to be amazed at the quality work done in this office given the impediments posed by the inadequate facility and space in which they work. After visiting with the clerk and staff, I make brief contact with the prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other counsel present there in the clerk's office, then tend to the reading of a few domestic abuse petitions, signing off on a couple of Ex Parte Orders and noting with "sticky notes" that a couple of other petitions do not state a claim. It is about five minutes before court time and I head down the hall, visiting with the bailiffs on the way to the chamber door. I have much appreciation for the bailiffs who do their level best to provide security and keep order under sometimes impossible conditions. While several of the courthouses within the Second Judicial Circuit are not adequate, facility wise, to provide acceptable levels of security, the situation here is less than average within our district. It is time for the "all rise" as I walk into the courtroom. Today my courtroom bailiff remembers my name and I do not have to fill in the blank from the bench. I try not to take myself too seriously. With ten circuit judges coming and going in and out of a particular courtroom from time to time, it is hard for the bailiffs to keep us separate.
     Today the courtroom is filled, as usual, to standing room only, and there is no space whatsoever for overflow. (The only other courtroom at Marion is in use - filled with lawyers and litigants there for domestic/probate chamber day.) There are probably 125 or more folk (defendants, family, bail bondsmen, attorneys, investigators, probation officers, et al) in my courtroom. Felony and district court appeal docket books are on the bench and are heavy and thick. A docket entry must be made each time someone comes before the court. Given the number of cases filed and the load per judge (about 1648 cases per judge in the Second Judicial Circuit for the year 2002 per the Arkansas Circuit Court Apportionment Commission - something over 2100 per judge according to AOC statistics) there is no way to conduct our business effectively without an ongoing "paper trail." After tending to some jail cases (first appearances, bond reduction matters, etc.) by closed circuit video hookup we start in on the docket. As each case is called, counsel/defendants approach the court and either announce that the case is ready for trial, for plea, for continuance on defense motion, for suppression hearing or otherwise. If a hearing or plea is involved I will typically wait until we run the docket to take up reported matters on the record. Today I get the idea that the defense attorneys have sized up the trial docket and are "stonewalling" by announcing most cases ready and declining to enter a plea today under the fair assumption that only a small percentage of the cases will be reached during the upcoming term, which starts in a couple of weeks and lasts only four days. During this process there is banter back and forth between prosecutors and defense attorneys as to the proposed trial of the case, withdrawal of plea offers at the close of the day's business, etc. It is about 10:45 a.m., and time for a short break/pit stop. Before I get off the bench several counsel ask to approach, and after getting the "green light" they present some routine civil orders, a couple of default judgments, and present proof for an uncontested divorce. I leave the bench, return some phone calls, take care of some "personal comfort" matters, and I am back on the bench just after 11:00. By the hardest we have managed to run the docket when a noon recess is called, about 12:30 p.m. I talk with Dianne and make a mental note that we have probably got about fifteen or twenty pleas to do after lunch, along with a couple of suppression hearings. We likely will not get to any revocation hearings today, although a few have been scheduled behind the regular criminal docket. We will likely have to come back for these on a scheduled "Revo" day in a couple of weeks.
     I make time to have a visiting lunch with Dianne and another close friend. A real nice break in the midst of a busy day, which I much need and appreciate. Too quickly it is time to get back to the courthouse and move through the rest of our work. Upon arrival I note that the attorneys are head-to-head in ongoing negotiations and will need a few additional minutes to work things out before we get started. At about 2:00 p.m. the "remain seated and come to order" is announced as I enter the courtroom and we begin to take pleas, one after another until all twenty are done. Only one suppression hearing remains. One of the pleas took care of the other scheduled suppression hearing. After the final hearing is concluded, we tend to some "odds and ends" and manage to declare recess just a little after 5:00 p.m. We pack up, say our goodbyes/thanks and then head back to Jonesboro. I drop Dianne off at her house about 6:30 then head home. It has been another full day which I, for the most part, found challenging, rewarding, and enjoyable.
     Tomorrow I will be working civil court in Jonesboro. According to an earlier conversation with Brenda midafternoon, the twenty-case docket has paired down to about seven or eight cases (motion hearings, non-jury trials, etc.), so I will likely have some office time after I finish the Jonesboro docket, which will be utilized in taking up additional uncontested matters; the presentation of routine Orders; the review, research and writing of some Opinions that need doing; and conferring with Brenda regarding the calendar, "fires" to be put out, and other day-to-day business.
     Scheduling and covering civil, criminal, domestic/probate and juvenile court in a multi-county district is a challenge, particularly when each of the judges in our district have a much higher than average case load. It is the only judicial experience that I have ever known, so I do not know what it would be like to do otherwise. We judges in the Second do take some degree of pride in disposing of cases at a better rate than average, even with the higher "per judge" case load. We very much need additional courtroom space in Crittenden County and both districts in Mississippi County. We additionally need more judges (one or two) to share the load. Security is inadequate, although some improvements are being made. Our citizens deserve better facilities and more secure, effective, and expeditious administration of justice than we presently provide.
     On September 11, 2001, I was preparing to orient a jury pool and then proceed to try a felony drug case in Jonesboro. It was a routine case like hundreds of others. As the prospective jurors sat in the courtroom the word of the terrorist attacks spread. Most of the prospective jurors had reported early and had not been privy to the information via radio or TV. Under the circumstances I felt it appropriate to give them the rest of the morning to watch television, listen to the radio, talk with family/friends, tend to business, etc., regarding the events that had occurred and asked them to return after lunch, at which time I would give them further opportunity to express themselves before determining whether or not to actually try the case. By 1:30 p.m. all of the prospective jurors were back in attendance. None wished to be relieved from jury duty, even for the day, and many verbally stated "it is our duty to stay here and work." Pretty impressive. Such dedication is deserving of our best.
     I am honored to do the job that I do. While it is challenging and even frustrating at times, on the whole, being a circuit judge in the Second Judicial Circuit is a very rewarding experience.