Monticello Live

These four Swift Transportation 18 wheelers, as well as  several others in other counties, were stopped by the Drew County Sheriff’s Dept., and towed, after a “writ of execution” went into effect, based on the company’s obligation to pay approximately $6 million, following  a Drew County jury’s verdict against the company in a 2008 lawsuit involving a Turner Snacks truck and driver.

The Swfit big-rigs were towed and stored by Triple A Towing, after Swift reportedly didn’t fulfil it’s financial obligation to the victim.

According to Chuck Gibson, a Dermott attorney, the trucks have been released, after Swift aggreed to satisfy the judgement against them.

Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels has announced the certification of petitions for nonpartisan judicial candidates in the Nonpartisan Judicial General Election, including:

· Don Glover, Circuit Judge District 10 Division 4 SD 10.1 (577 valid signatures required)

· Teresa A. French, Circuit Judge District 10 Division 5 (577 valid signatures required)

Both are currently Circuit Judges for the 10th Judicial District. (more…)

Latoya Shelton of Monticello, Robin Stafford of Hamburg, John and Charlotte Hollimon of Crossett, Krystal Harper of Monticello, Angelia Buford of Monticello and Joe Shairrick of Hamburg, were recently sworn in as officers of the court by Juvenile Judge Teresa French, at the Ashley County Courthouse.

CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates in which volunteers speak up for abused and neglected children who are wards of court. Each volunteer completed the CASA volunteer training curriculum and completed background checks. For more information or to learn how you can help CASA, contact Dhana Martin @ 870-853-0814.

Monticello’s District Court has been extremely busy, during the past few weeks.  The district court is in session everyTuesday and Wednesday (except for months that have 5).

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a total of 668 individual cases went before the judge, during what is called a “plea day”, when cases are divided between those who plead “guilty” and “not guilty”.

On a Wednesday session, earlier this month, Judge Kenneth Harper was called as a witness.  In June, there was an altercation, which led to the arrest of one of that day’s defendants.  Since Judge Harper was presiding, he was called as a witness.  Judge Harper is shown here, being sworn in by Hamburg District Judge Reid Harrod, who served as judge for the case.

Mike Stewart, a Monticello agent of Bob Cole Bail Bond Inc., stood before Drew County Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson earlier this week, and was reprimanded for various actions, including lack of preparation in cases where Stewart’s clients came before the court, such as not knowing how much bond had actually been paid, by some clients.

Stewart was also told to make his “best efforts to insure that bonded persons appear in court, and are on time”, and to bring full, proper documentation of his bonding activity that are on that day’s court docket.  Judge Gibson added, “I want it to be done professionally, with no mistakes made.”

One specific topic of discussion was when Judge Gibson asked if he had provided ”bail bonds on credit” or if “partial payment” had been accepted.

Judge Gibson made note in the court’s record that the Circuit Judges were signing an order requiring “any commercial bail bond be paid in full, before any bond is issued.  No credit shall be extended.”  (more…)

Drew County Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson held session on several “old fines” last week, and attempted to close many cases, such as theft, hot checks, and old fines and fees.

One way to “close your case” was to pay in full, including any old fines, restitution, and court costs.

The other was was to “go to jail, go directly to jail,” until your time served equals your debt.

In many instances, old probation cases couldn’t be closed until those fees were paid, so problems involved other agencys.

Everyone jailed had received a notice, and were brough to court and given the opportunity to pay their past-due balance to the legal system.

Several took the chance, including one case where over $4,000 was given to the court. 

One person involved in the court process said, “so many people haven’t ever paid a nickel, until now.”

The Monticello division of the Drew County District Court welcomes a new court clerk, Heather Carter.

The District Court office is located in the back of the MEDC building, with parking behind the Police Department.

Note: the sign behind Ms. Carter was saved from a court program a few years ago, which allowed shoplifters to wear the sign at the store where they committed the crime, instead of serving time in jail.

The Monticello District Court has moved from the basement of City Hall, and is now located in the back of the MEDC building, also known as the Old Post Office.

The court staff (shown here), are now conveniently located, next to the District Courtroom.

Click here to read the story, as reported by Ashley County Ledger.

(more…)

Would you know what to do if a child had thoughts of suicide? Would you know what to do if a child came to you feeling depressed? Is your child out of control and you don’t know what to do to help him/her?

If you answered yes to anyone of these questions, than the Meet and Greet on October 30, 2008 is where you need to be. Weather you are a parent, teacher, church official or caring community member, there will be Out-Patient and In-Patient Providers there to answer your questions and give you information of there services. The Meet and Greet will be held in the Fire training Center on HWY 278 E in Monticello, AR from 10-2. I encourage anyone to come and stop by for this free information. (more…)

(more…)

(more…)

(more…)