A Pulaski County judge ruled last week that Justice of the Peace Kristina Gulley’s hot check misdemeanor convictions prohibit her from holding office and declared a vacancy on the Pulaski County quorum court.
Circuit Judge Chip Welch ruled on Sept. 12 that Gulley’s convictions on two hot check charges in 1997 and 2003 prevent her from holding office and vacated her seat as justice of the peace for District 10 in Pulaski County.
Pulaski County shared the news in a press release on Tuesday, and Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones confirmed Welch’s ruling in a text message Thursday.
Welch issued an injunction in the case last year that prevented Gulley from exercising any powers in her elected role. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed Welch’s decision in a ruling in April.
With Welch declaring the position vacant, the Pulaski County Quorum Court is required to adopt a resolution declaring the vacancy and provide the resolution to the governor within 10 days. Gov. Sarah Sanders will appoint a replacement who will serve until the term ends in December next year, the county said in a statement.
“I’m grateful for Judge Welch’s decision because we’re one step closer to returning representation to the Pulaski County residents of District 10,” Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde said in a statement. “I trust that the governor will make an excellent appointment, bringing effective representation to the district.”
Reached by phone last week, Gulley said she doesn’t actually have a conviction on her record and said she has records from the Arkansas State Police and the city of Conway to support that. Gulley said she was unable to present the evidence to the court this week because the hearing was limited to the injunction.
Gulley, who framed the issue as a political attack against her, said she disagrees with the law that requires people convicted of petty crimes to be ruled ineligible for office but said she found Welch to be a fair judge and understood that he has to follow the law.
Gulley was elected to the quorum court in 2020 and filed for reelection in 2022. In May 2022, Henry and Detrice Robinson filed a petition with the circuit court, alleging that Gulley had been convicted of writing about $15 worth of hot checks in 1997 and 2003.
Eight days later, Welch determined that Gulley’s hot check misdemeanors were considered “infamous crimes” under state law, making her ineligible to hold office and ineligible to run for reelection. Gulley did not appeal Welch’s ruling, but Pulaski County intervened in the case to ask the court to remove Gulley from office and to have her return her salary and benefits. The county later filed for a temporary restraining order to prohibit Gulley from exercising any powers in her office.
Welch ruled in the county’s favor and granted it an injunction in July 2022. Welch’s ruling knocked Gulley off the 2022 ballot, leaving only Barry Jefferson, who had lost to Gulley in the Democratic primary, to run for the District 10 seat. Jefferson was later ruled ineligible for having written hot checks 16 years earlier.