Three vie for the 2nd Judicial District, Division 5 judge’s race 

The three candidates in the 2nd Judicial District Division 5 race were slated to debate or have a roundtable discussion Wednesday (Jan. 21) at the Kiwanis Club of Greater Jonesboro. There was only one problem. The only candidate that showed up was incumbent judge Charles “Skip” Mooney Jr.

Public defender Brian Miles had a death in his family that prevented him from appearing and it wasn’t clear why attorney Luther Sutter wasn’t present. The 2nd Judicial District is typically one of the busiest in the state, Mooney said. 

The 2nd Judicial District covers Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett counties and there are 12 judges that rotate through the court systems in these counties. 

Those courts include criminal, civil, domestic and specialty courts such as drug court, Mooney said. Since his first election in 2021, Mooney said there are two things that consistently drive people into these systems – drugs and mental illness.

“It’s a common thread throughout our judicial system … the drug epidemic is overwhelming our court system. I’ve seen too many people die from this,” he said. “Chemical addiction along with mental illness is rampant.”

Mooney noted that he has cases in all the courts and that he averages more than 2,300 cases a year just in his court. During his tenure only five of his decisions have been appealed, and none have been successful, he said.

Prior to becoming a judge, Mooney was a longtime attorney in Jonesboro and a public advocate to help stem drug addiction in the community.

In 2008, he founded Out of the Dark, a grassroots organization that worked towards educating adolescents about the dangers of addiction. Now that he’s a judge he can’t be an advocate anymore, but he can establish and promote drug courts, he added.

When asked if the courts are being weaponized in adherence to political agendas, Mooney said he hasn’t experienced that on the state level, but there is no doubt it’s happening on the federal level.

State judges are elected and can be held accountable, he said. Federal judges are appointed and don’t have to be held accountable to voters, he said.

Mooney said he wasn’t going to take any personal shots at his two opponents unless one or both took personal shots at him. He said he just wants the race to boil down to one thing – his performance on the bench.

“They cannot attack me on my judicial record. They cannot attack me on my community record,” he said.