From left: Independence County Sheriff Shawn Stephens, Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery
By Andrea Bruner, White River Now
Two of the county’s top positions have a two-way race in the upcoming March 3, 2026, primary election.
Filings closed at noon Wednesday, Nov. 12, with incumbents Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery and Sheriff Shawn Stephens both facing opponents.
Mark W. Biram will be challenging Jeffery, while Stephens’ opponent is Susan Baxter. Meanwhile, a vacancy created by the retirement of County Clerk Tracey Mitchell saw two candidates: Lisa Ann Drake and Gena Lawrence.
Circuit Clerk Greg Wallis, who has held that position since January 2019, did not seek re-election. The only person to file for circuit clerk is Carmen Duncan.
Tax Collector Paul Albert and County Treasurer Bob Treadway both filed for re-election with no opponents.
The Independence County Quorum Court will have some new faces after the election, even with only one race on the ballot.
District 5 Justice of the Peace Bill Lindsey died in December 2024, creating a vacancy, and the quorum court appointed Cliff Barnett in January of this year to fulfill the unexpired term. However, appointees may not file for election to the position to which they were appointed, Mitchell noted.
Filing for the position are Brendan Bishop and David B. Jones.
Mark McCollum filed for District 9 JP, a position being vacated by Johnathan Abbott, and Jim Taylor filed for District 10 JP, currently held by Charles Jordan, but like Abbott, chose not to seek re-election.
Several incumbents will face no opposition. District 1 JP Tim Stewart, District 2 JP Johnny McMullen, District 3 JP Brent Henderson, District 4 JP Brad Covington, District 6 JP Tammy Pearce, District 7 JP Jason Jones, District 8 JP Kenny Hurley, and District 11 JP Dennis Stephens all filed for re-election.
Mitchell said Independence County’s townships have been revised since the last election. The county previously had 24 townships but now has just seven, she said.
Even with only seven townships, two – Jamestown and Oil Trough – saw no constable filings, while three people filed for the position in one township. Dota will face a three-way race between Brice Foust, Curtis Davis and Ronald Laslo.
The other four constable filings are Cushman – Gary Franks; Greenbrier – Brenda Bittle; Ruddell – Steve Davis; and White River – Michael Mundy.
All are Republicans; no Democrats or independents filed for these offices.
Judicial filings
Several races have developed within the 16th Judicial District; all are non-partisan races:
Circuit Judge Division 1 – Circuit Judge Holly Meyer and District Judge Chaney Taylor;
Circuit Judge Division 2 – Kara Byars, Scott Davidson, and Thomas Kendrick;
Circuit Judge Division 3 – Circuit Judge Lee Harrod and Mathew Gray Dellinger
Circuit Judge Division 4 – Kimberly Edington and Maureen Harrod.
State House
For the Arkansas House of Representatives, four candidates filed for three positions each covering part of Independence County.
State Representative District 28 – Bart Schulz of Cave City;
State Representative District 39 – State Rep. Wayne Long of Bradford and Cody Smith of Pleasant Plains;
State Representative District 40 – State Rep. Shad Pearce of Batesville.
All of these candidates filed as Republicans.
School board candidates
Four positions are up on the Batesville School Board, but no one filed for Zone 3, a seat currently held by Heather Fulbright, who was elected in 2012.
Incumbents Scott Fredricks, Chris Milum, and Josh Swinea filed for the open at-large position, Zone 1 and Zone 4, respectively.
At Southside, incumbents Kyle Miller and Tony May filed for Zone 1 and 2, respectively.
Previously, a Cedar Ridge School Board member had moved out of his district but has filed for the position representing where he currently lives. Dr. Rodney Griffin filed for Zone 5, currently held by Larry Craig; Griffin previously held the Zone 2 seat, which will now go to Burt “B.L.” Barber.
Other filings were incumbents filing for re-election as follows: Zone 2 – Bart Hayes; Zone 6 – Charlie Skaggs; and Zone 7 – LaDonna Shaw.
The fourth school district within Independence County, Midland, held a special election on May 13 of this year for a 42.0 mill school tax. The tax narrowly passed by 146 votes in favor and 137 against.
At that time there were three positions on the board on the ballot, with one (Shawn Conder for Position 1) being unopposed. For Position 2, Nathan Wood defeated Matt Turner (172 votes to 107) and for Position 6, Austin Passmore beat Krystal Litaker (229 votes to 47).
The March 2026 election will have no races, with incumbents Bani’ Meharg and Joseph “Joe” Cox filing for re-election unopposed for Positions 3 and 4, respectively.
Mitchell said Batesville, Southside, and Cedar Ridge are not planning millage changes in the 2026 school election.
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