After serving three terms as Jefferson County judge, Mike Holcomb is stepping down at the end of this year and three Democrats and a Republican are all seeking the job.
The primary election will be held Tuesday.
Current Justice of the Peace Alfred Carroll Sr., former Bluff Mayor Dutch King and current Assistant Chief of Police Ivan Whitfield are facing each other in the May Democratic primary, with the winner taking on Current Justice of the Peace Republican Ted Harden in November.
Carroll, who has been a Teacher and Building Principal in the Pine Bluff School District for 32 years, has served on the Quorum Court for nearly 14 years.
“If elected, our goal will be to expand existing partnerships and create new ones that will allow Jefferson County’s citizens to experience the best in what our county has to offer in education, employment opportunities, economic development, recreation and quality of life,” Carroll said. “Secondly we will spread the good news in market areas that might prove profitable to our success. Finally, we will be open to good ideas from our citizens.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
A 1976 graduate of Pine Bluff High School, Carroll holds a BS degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Master’s from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
He and his wife Sharon have eight children.
Former Pine Bluff Mayor Dutch King is a graduate of Pine Bluff High School and received a degree in business education with a minor in social studies from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
He was a member of the Pine Bluff City Council for six years, and served as Mayor for four years.
King said as County Judge, he would focus on “cleaning up the county,” and planned to introduce new initiatives to promote more efficiency in local government. Specifically, he said he would work to improve county services, infrastructure, and waste management systems among other things.
“I believe in the spirit of Jefferson County and in the people who call this home,” King said. “As County Judge, I will work with our business and education leaders to bring prosperity and opportunity back to our community.”
King owns Arkansas Marketers, Inc., which he has operated since 1981, and has owned Applied Energy since 1985.
King and his wife Helen have three children.
Whitfield, who has been with the Pine Bluff Police Department for 29 years and served in all four divisions, graduated from Central High School at Helena-West Helena, and received a degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
He is also a graduate of the Southern Police Institute in Kentucky, and the School of Law Enforcement Supervision through the Criminal Justice Institute, a division of the University of Arkansas system in 1995.
“I want to build on what other county judges have done in the past,” Whitfield said. “One of the big concerns is roads and I want to see that we take care of more roads and keep them up.
“We spend a lot of money on our jail system but I love youth and I want to work with families and the juvenile court system and try to be proactive,” Whitfield said. “I want to see us develop programs for our youth to keep them out of trouble.”
He said he also wants to work with the Economic Development board to try and bring new jobs to the county, and to maintain jobs which currently exist.
Whitefield and his wife Loretta have one child and one grandchild.