Because of early voting and a lack of parking spaces at the Jefferson County Courthouse, the trial of County Clerk Patricia Royal Johnson that was scheduled to begin Monday has been postponed.
Sarah Miller, the case coordinator for Second Division Circuit Judge Rob Wyatt Jr., said Wednesday that attorneys for both sides requested the continuance, which was granted by Special Judge John Langston.
Miller said the trial has been reset for the week of May 9.
Langston, who is a retired Pulaski County circuit judge, was appointed to hear the case, which is assigned to the Second Division, after all the circuit judges in Jefferson County recused from hearing the case.
Johnson is charged with 10 counts of second-degree forgery, nine of them stemming from a report by the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit and the 10th based on an investigation by the Arkansas State Police alleging that she changed the date on her party political practices pledge during the March 2014 political party filing period. The other nine deal with allegations that Johnson falsified payroll documents to give her employees bonuses that were not authorized or approved by the Jefferson County Quorum Court.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
She is also charged with four counts of theft of property and one count of abuse of public trust.
Special Prosecutor Jack McQuary said during a court hearing on Oct. 2, 2015, that the state has made an offer to settle the case but that offer was rejected.
McQuary was appointed to handle the case after Prosecuting Attorney S. Kyle Hunter withdrew, citing the appearance of a possible conflict of interest.
If Johnson is convicted of any of the charges, she would be ineligible to hold public office.
She did not file for re-election.
Johnson is represented by Little Rock attorney Austin Porter, who represented former Pine Bluff Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones in her lawsuit against the city, which was settled in 2015.