By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Circuit Court criminal docket took another large hit during the most recent term of circuit court held at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
According to figures from St. Francis County Circuit and Chancery Clerk Bette Green, a total of 114 criminal cases were disposed of during the term of court which began on Aug. 16 and ended on Sept. 6.
First Judicial District Circuit Judge L.T. Simes III said the continuing teamwork from the entities involved in circuit court has allowed the county's docket to be cleared at an increasing rate.
"Things have been going very smoothly in St. Francis County. The measures that have been taken to attempt to make this work are going great, and the teamwork we see from the circuit court coordinator, the elected officials and the attorneys have really made this work," Simes said. "The entire process has been really efficient from scheduling hearings and proceedings for attorneys all the way to the end of the cases. Everyone really works as a team, and that allows this to work as well as it has.
According to Simes, the smooth running of the docket is also allowing the court to prepare itself for times when a lengthy jury trial may be necessary.
"When everything is running like this, then it puts us in a better position to handle cases such as capital murder cases, which if they go to jury, may take up the entire two-week period allotted for circuit court," he said.
Green said St. Francis County citizens also helped alleviate some of the stress on the docket by being prepared to serve as jurors if jury trials were needed.
"During this term, we had one civil jury trial and no criminal jury trials, but the citizens were ready if we needed them. On a daily basis jurors were to call in at 11 a.m. to find out if they were needed, and then they still had to be on call just in case a jury trial was needed. That helps out immensely, and it shows the responsibility of the citizens of our county," Green said.
According to the numbers from Green's office, over $13,000 in restitution was ordered during circuit court, and $24,200 in fines and court costs were ordered.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County Election Commissioners have resubmitted paperwork which may result in a larger payment from the State Election Commission to cover costs of the May Primary.
The state refused to pay 91 percent of the bills last month.
According to county election commission chairman Joe Young, commissioner Bettye Proctor and election coordinator Judy Armstrong resubmitted the information last week. According to Young, the commission is expecting a response from the state commission in the next few days.
"Judy and Bettye did a lot of hard work putting all of this together to get it to the state, and we got the job done. I think that everything should pass this time out because a lot of the stuff we were hit with was stuff we just had to provide the right paperwork for," Young said.
According to a letter last month from the state commission, of the $7,460.77 in costs submitted by the county commission, only $642.58 would be paid by the state.
The St. Francis County Election Commission learned in August that members of the State Board of Election Commissioners refused to pay the majority of the submitted costs.
According to the letter, there were 11 modifications to the submitted request. Those include $3,445.40 in reductions to part-time help; a $750 reduction in election commissioner pay; $134.08 removed from supplies for "Vote Here" signs; a second supplies reduction in the amount of $239 for undocumented postage; a pair of $200 reductions, one for set-up and programming of the voting machine and the second for advertising; and two charges in the "other" category totaling $1,849.71. Over $1,400 of those charges were to be paid to ES&S, the company that handles the ballots for St. Francis County.
The Colt Community Development Corporation will hold its annual Colt Pioneer Days this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13 and 14 on the lawn of the William Stone House in Colt.
On Friday, festivities will be from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. On Saturday, things will start at 9 a.m. and continue to 5 p.m.
Activities for the event include gospel singing, craft booths, history exhibits and demonstrations, a silent auction and a variety of other activities, according to the CCDC.
The featured artist will be Anna Lue Cook, of Germantown, Tenn. She will display her collection of textile bags and items crafted of recycled bags.
Cook's work has been displayed at the Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro, the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of American History, the Knoxville Museum of Art and the Decatur House in Washington.
Cook has nearly 1,500 pieces in her collection, and refers to herself as the "Bag Lady."
All profits from the event will go for the upkeep and restoration of the historic William Stone House.