Benton County district judges

Benton County has four elected district-judge divisions. But the court also operates through a number of departments — usually cities — and holds court at a number of physical locations. Those three things are not the same, and they do not line up one to one.

The county's administrative plan can assign cases, or particular recurring dockets, across division lines. So the judge elected to a numbered division is not necessarily the only judge who hears matters arising in it, and a department listed under one division may have its cases assigned to a judge elected to another.

That is why two official sources can look like they disagree when they do not. The Arkansas Judiciary directory records the office a judge was elected to. The administrative plan records what that judge currently does. Both are accurate; they answer different questions.

One more distinction worth knowing: a department is not always its own courthouse. "Benton County West", for example, is a grouping of seven departments, and its court is held in Gentry.

See where court is actually held across the county, or read the current Benton County administrative plan (opens in a new tab).