Self announces candidacy for Circuit Judge

Joseph Self, chief deputy prosecutor for Sebastian County, announced Monday (Oct. 26) that he will be a candidate for Sebastian County Circuit Judge in 2010.

Self, 51, will seek the Division II position held by Judge Harry Foltz, who is retiring at the end of his term.

Self earned a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas Tech University and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s School of Law in 1982. He joined the staff of the Prosecuting Attorney’s office for Sebastian and Crawford County in 1982, where he remained until going into private practice in 1987. He owned and operated Self Law Firm from 1990 until 2008, when he closed it to return to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as chief deputy on Jan. 1, 2009. 

“I thought I’d like coming back to public service, but I was wrong. I don’t like it, I LOVE it!” Self noted in a press release.

Self is assigned to several homicide and drug cases, and has been involved in several jury trials since his return to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. He is in charge of the Drug Court program for the office, screening potential candidates and participating in the weekly staff meetings during which the active cases are reviewed.

“I have handled hundreds of cases in court of all types. From uncontested divorces to heated custody battles, from speeding tickets to first degree murder cases, from contract disputes to automobile accidents, there is little handled by the Circuit Courts that I have not been involved in over the years,” Self said in his announcement statement.   

Self was certified Arkansas as a mediator in 2004, and served in that capacity in more than 50 cases. It was while mediating that Self became convinced he wanted to serve as Circuit Judge. Self has experience as a judge, frequently filling in for District Court judges while in private practice.

“If a judge was sick, at a conference, on vacation or just unavailable, I was often asked to preside as a Special District Court Judge,” Self said. “I learned that a judge sometimes has to make a decision quickly, and to do so, he must know the rules of evidence and the law. In some complicated matters, though, I heard the case, and then researched the law on my own to reach what I thought was a fair result.”