Benton County district judge
District Judge Ray Bunch
Division 2 of the Benton County district court.
- Elected office
- Division 2
- Cities served
- Bella Vista
- Bentonville
- Cave Springs
- Pea Ridge
Criminal and traffic cases originating in these cities. Civil and small claims are assigned separately — see below.- Departments listed
- Bella Vista
- Bentonville
- Cave Springs
- Pea Ridge
As the Arkansas Judiciary directory files them under this judge. Not a statement of which cases they hear.- Phone
- 479-271-3120Clerk: Jaime White
- Official listing
- Arkansas Judiciary directory (opens in a new tab)
Cases assigned
From section II of the county's administrative plan, effective 1 January 2026 through 31 December 2027.
- Criminal and traffic cases originating in Bentonville, Pea Ridge and Bella Vista, and traffic and misdemeanor cases originating in Cave Springs.
- Criminal and traffic cases brought by the County of Benton arising within Division 2.
- All civil and small claims cases arising within Division 2.
- Presides over the DWI Specialty Court, a post-adjudication programme for high-risk participants that operates in Bentonville and serves Benton County.
Elected office and current assignment are different things
A judge is elected to a numbered division, and A.C.A. § 16-17-1110(1) — Organization and designation, on Justia (opens in a new tab) attaches a court name to each division — which is why the Arkansas Judiciary directory lists Bentonville District Court under Division 2. The same statute, at subsection (1)(D), then leaves the assignment of judges to departments to the mutual agreement of the state district court judges, and subsections (F) and (G) make the judges elected districtwide and the court's jurisdiction districtwide.
That is the administrative plan's authority to route cases and dockets across division lines, and why the division a city belongs to does not by itself tell you which judge hears its cases.
Sources: Arkansas Judiciary — Hon. Ray Bunch (opens in a new tab)Arkansas Judiciary — Benton County administrative plan (opens in a new tab)
Last verified: August 25, 2026