The Town of Smyrna will hold a special election in June for a council seat recently filled in its municipal election.
Justin Capps recently won the at-large seat, defeating another political newcomer Dean Johnson by 10 votes, and unseating incumbent Gerald Brown.
But this week, Capps was disqualified from holding office for a nonviolent felony on his record — at 15 years old he was tried as an adult in Arkansas for vehicle theft.
“That I had no idea was going to affect me winning this seat 30 years later. But we are working on getting that taken care of. As I said I’ve lived a very productive lifestyle and I’ve been a standup member of the community. People here know me and they love me, and you see they voted for me. They wanted me to come in there and continue to be a faithful servant to the community.”
Capps says he didn’t know the felony would affect his eligibility, and is now working to get a pardon from the state of Arkansas, adding he hasn't been involved in any crime since, and was even a DMS State Public Safety Officer in recent years.
He also notes he was never asked on his candidacy paperwork if he has ever been convicted of a felony, adding he ran for office in 2019 as well, although unsuccessfully, but the charge was never mentioned then.
At the town’s Wednesday council meeting, town solicitor Barrett Edwards says the follow up election will be between Dean Johnson and incumbent Gerald Brown.
“The two other individuals who are running for that seat, there will be a follow-up election between those two individuals," he says. "So there was originally three candidates, one has been disqualified, and so the remaining two will run.”
Brown will continue to hold the council seat until the follow-up election.
“Under the town charter, individuals who are elected to council serve from the day they are elected until the time their successor is duly elected and qualified," Edwards says. "So at this point, there is not a duly elected and qualified individual to take over Mr. Brown’s seat, so Mr. Brown will serve for a short while longer.”
Council voted to hold the special election on June 4.
