COUNTY NEWS
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County elected officials and community leaders recently broke ground for a new Cleburne County Courtrooms Building. The 18,891-square-foot building will house district court on one floor and circuit court on the second floor. Located adjacent to the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office and detention center, it will pro- vide improved parking, better security, and safer and more efficient transfer of in-
mates from the jail next door. District Judge Mike Irwin is said to handle as many as 500 cases on a court day. And Jim Jackson, Cleburne County Economic Development Director, said he hopes the project will also serve to stimulate growth and revitalization along 7th Street in Heber Springs.
Former Collector now Cleburne County Judge
Brenda Hunt had considered running for the position of Cleburne County Judge some day. But now that she is serving in that position as an appointee, she’s not sure she will take on the role of being a candidate for public office again. Hunt, who started her career in county gov- ernment in the Cleburne County Treasurer’s Office in 1980, went on to serve as Tax Col- lector, and most recently, as administrative as- sistant to Judge Claude Dill. Dill retired effective June 30. After he and members of the Quorum Court interviewed several people interested in filling the unexpired term, Brenda was chosen from among those in- terviewed. She took the reins on July 1. Because she is appointed, she will not be able to run for the position at the end of her 18 months. “Several JPs approached me about my inter- est in serving. I hadn’t said anything, because I wasn’t sure whether I might want to run for it” in the next election. Judge Dill had already told friends he planned for this to be his last term. “I love county government,” she said. “I like
working with the public, and seeing the county grow. We have a lot of positive things going on here.” Judge Hunt’s preparation began in the Trea-
surer’s office in 1980. She then moved over to the Sheriff & Collector’s office until those offic-
COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2011
es were split in 1987, and she ran for and won the election as Collector, starting in 1989. She continued that post until a bad bout with lu- pus, a chronic autoimmune disorder. “I found out I had lupus; 2002 was a bad year,” and she ended up stepping down from office for a cou- ple of years. She worked part-time with the new Assessor during that period, then in 2005 went back to work full-time – as a secretary in the County Judge’s office. She has served as admin- istrative assistant since 2007. She credits Judge Dill for being a mentor to her, and for his excel- lence in service to the community. “He takes
care of things for every elective office. Tere are a lot of things the public never knows about” that a County Judge does behind the scenes, she added. “Not everything is cut and dried. So much of it takes a thought process.” She noted that it is “a great honor for people
to have the confidence in you that you can do the job.” Brenda becomes, by the way, the second woman currently serving as County Judge in Arkansas. Te other is Washington County’s Judge Marilyn Edwards.
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