"A Little Good News"
Greene County Courthouse: State of the Art, User Friendly & Completely Paid For

By: Daniel T. Stidham, Esq.

I was excited when Don Hollingsworth asked me to write this column about the new Greene County Courthouse. Don was present here in Paragould, recently, when we had the occasion to show off the facility during our celebration of Law Day and during our ceremony dedicating two of the three Courtrooms in the Courthouse. I am pleased Don asked me to share this story with the Arkansas Bar.

The citizens of Greene County and the Greene County Bar Association are very proud of our new Courthouse. To understand our pride, you must first be apprised of a little history. Our "old" Courthouse was built in 1888. It was a magnificent structure, in it's day, but as the years passed and as Greene County grew, it became both impractical and fell into in a state of disrepair. Several attempts were made to create support for the construction of a new facility, but they all fell short. Circuit Judge Charles Light, who retired from the bench in 1973, despised the old facility and it's inadequacies. Legend has it that Judge Light had jokingly issued an offer of immunity, from criminal prosecution, to any person who would burn the facility down. Judge Light's attempts to get a new Courthouse built during his lifetime failed. He died in 1982. But ironically, his death in 1982, coupled with the generosity of his widow, Margaret Anne Light, who passed away a few years later, laid the groundwork for the ultimate construction of the Courthouse.

Margaret Anne Light, in honor of her husband, in her Will, bequeathed the sum of $100,000.00 to the citizens of Greene County. This sum, placed in Trust, was specifically earmarked to be used to furnish a Courtroom in a "new" Courthouse in Greene County. The Will had a "sunset" provision, which stated that if a new facility was not built within ten years of her death, the $100,000.00 would go to an alternate beneficiary. This gift, when combined with the generous testamentary gift of another prominent family, Mack and Vestal West, gave Greene County almost a quarter of a million dollars to use to build a new Courthouse. Judge Light's widow passed away in November, 1987, and the clock was ticking.

The Greene County Bar Association implemented a plan designed to gain community-wide support for the construction of a new Courthouse. A Courthouse Committee was selected which contained members from a cross -section of the community as well as government leaders of the Community. This Committee gained wide support for the project, but the project seemed doomed when a dispute arose between the City and the County over allocation of the proceeds of a proposed sales tax designed to pay for the new facility.

This provided a significant challenge to the Bar if the project was to be saved. Attorney Robert F. Thompson was ready for this challenge, and single-handedly brokered an agreement between the City and the County which led to a special election on the sales tax issue. The citizens of Greene County warmly embraced the idea of this sales tax, and the new facility was completely paid for before ground was ever broken to begin construction. Construction was completed ahead of schedule, and City, County & State offices moved into the new facility in January of this year.

The Courthouse has three (3) Courtrooms, Municipal, Circuit & Chancery. For this first time ever in the history of Greene County, this year, three different Courts were convened in the same building at the same time. All Court personnel, including the Court Clerks, Probation Officers, and even the Prosecuting Attorney are housed in the facility. We are even capable of having two jury trials occur simultaneously as the Courthouse is equipped with two jury ready Courtrooms and two jury deliberation rooms. A bank of Witness rooms are conveniently located outside the two large courtrooms which make conferring with clients and witnesses easy and confidential, an impossibility in the Old Courthouse.

By the way, we still have the Old Courthouse too. Recognizing the historic significance of the structure, the Citizens of Greene County, through private donations and grants, have saved this beautiful structure and are restoring it to it's original splendor. Once again, a member of our Bar led this project. Thanks to Randy F. Philhours, who organized the Greene County Courthouse Preservation Society, the Historic Greene County Courthouse, with it's beautifully reconstructed clock tower, remains as a symbol of our past.

As I stated earlier, Don Hollingsworth, was present when we unveiled the bronze plaques dedicating the "Charles W. Light Courtroom" and the "Mack & Vestal West Courtroom" in our new Courthouse. Don also served as our guest speaker, later that evening, at our annual Law Day Banquet, having accepted the invitation of another prominent member of our local Bar, H.T. Moore, who just happens to be the current President of the Arkansas Bar. As I listened to Don's remarks during the banquet, it was clear to me that he understood the pride in our Bar and the pride we have in our community in achieving this magnificent goal. Thanks, Don, for celebrating with us, and for giving us the opportunity to share "A Little Good News."