A lawsuit filed by six Pine Bluff citizens, including former justice of the peace candidate Garland Trice, was dismissed by a special judge in 11th West Circuit Court Friday.
The lawsuit accused Justices of the Peace Alfred Carroll Sr., who was Trice’s opponent in a March 2024 primary; Reginald Adams; Reginald Johnson; Margarette Williams; Melanie Johnson Dumas; Cedric Jackson; and Brenda Bishop Gaddy of committing malfeasance by attempting to pass ordinances without the approval of Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson. The justices of the peace are also accused of having the county disburse funds “in their favor” without Robinson’s approval.
Trice filed the lawsuit April 15 along with Pamela Barnes Earnest, Bruce Carmen, Victor Johnson, Glenda Daniels and Eric Mitchell. They sought to have the justices of the peace removed from office.
The dismissal order from Special Judge Randy Wright is only one paragraph and one sentence long:
“On the Motion of Defendants, Alfred Carrol(l), Reginald Adams, Margarette Williams, Melanie Johnson Dumas, Brenda Bishop Gaddy, Reginald Johnson and Cedric Jackson, to Dismiss Petition fired herein, the Court doth find and order:
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“1. That this matter is hereby dismissed.”
Carroll said Monday, when the order was filed in the circuit clerk’s office, he had heard “from the grapevine” about the dismissal.
“It would be great for those named in the suit as well as the citizenry of Jefferson County,” Carroll said. “Here again (is) a glimpse of things that are being done in county government through the executive leadership of county government and those who support this leadership, what they would do to undermine efforts to have greater transparency and follow state statues and try to improve the well-being of those employed by the county as well as the constituents who live in the county. It’s a great day.
“It’s just unfortunate we have those people in the community who can be persuaded to participate in those senseless kinds of lawsuits without bases properly filed.”
Robinson was not named in the lawsuit, but many of the justices of the peace have disagreed with him over operating procedures in county government and business for at least two years.
The defendants did not hire an attorney as they have tried to persuade Robinson to sign off on payment for their representation in previous lawsuits, Carroll said.
Little Rock attorney Jay Paul Coleman represented the plaintiffs and said confusion as to why Wright dismissed the suit has arisen.
“The JPs filed a notice that alleged that no action was taken,” Coleman said, explaining he filed an answer to the justices’ motion to dismiss the suit. The motion was filed May 9 and the response was issued May 23, Coleman said.
“The reason for the no-action-taken would have been if we ignored the answer,” he continued. “We will file a motion to strike the dismissal.”
Trice was engaged in a verbal dispute with Carroll and Reginald Johnson in a June 9 Quorum Court meeting that, according to Robinson, occurred after a majority of the justices walked out of a regularly scheduled meeting. That episode led to Trice being escorted out of the meeting room and shocked with a Taser outside a sheriff’s patrol unit with his back lying down on the ground and his shirt undone, according to video from The Heat magazine. He was hospitalized and released from Jefferson Regional then booked into and immediately released from the W.C. “Dub” Brassell Detention Center. He has a court appearance scheduled for June 25.
Coleman has not ruled out a suit stemming from that matter. “We’ll have to see how the case is handled as far as criminal charges are concerned,” he explained.
Coleman also represents Trice, Mark Cannon and Clayron Rasberry in another lawsuit filed in April against County Assessor Gloria Tillman, accusing her of nepotism and malfeasance in office. The plaintiffs are seeking to have Tillman removed from office.
A motion to dismiss filed by Tillman’s lawyer, Bobby McAllister of Benton, is still standing.