Judicial campaigns are generally known for being low-key, but 12th District Chancery Court — which includes Lauderdale and Clarke counties — may be an exception.
In less than a month, incumbent Chancery Judge Sarah Springer will face local attorney Lawrence “Larry” Primeaux in the Nov. 7 general election to see who will preside over the 12th District Chancery Court.
The two last faced off in a field of four candidates in the last contested election in the 12th District, a “herd election” in 1994 that came after the retirement of longtime chancellor George Warner.
On Tuesday, Springer opened her election headquarters and the political sparring began.
Primeaux attacked Springer’s appeal record and her vacation time; Springer attacked Primeaux’s appeal record and defended her time off.
Springer, speaking at her headquarters at 1010 19th Ave. before about 50 supporters, said of the approximately 8,000 cases she has finished since taking office in 1994, 37 have been appealed.
Of those, she reports that 21 were affirmed, meaning her ruling stood; eight were reversed; and eight more received partial reversals.
But her opponent’s research reveals slightly different numbers. According to Primeaux, 41 of Springer’s cases have been appealed. Of those, he said 23 were affirmed; eight were reversed; and an additional nine were reversed in part.
Springer said Primeaux needs to look at his own appeal record as an attorney.
“(Primeaux) has had 15 appeals in the past 12 years,” Springer said. “Ten of those cases were in my court. Six were affirmed, one was reversed and three received mixed rulings.”
Primeaux has practiced law for 33 years, 28 of those in Meridian. He said he has practiced primarily in chancery court since he moved to Mississippi and has been before Springer on many occasions over her 12 years in office.
In addition to her appeal record, Primeaux said, he takes issue with other aspects of Springer’s tenure on the bench, including the amount of time she takes off for vacation. Primeaux said in 2005, Springer took two three-week trips to Hawaii and canceled at least 14 cases that had been on the docket for at least six months.
But Springer said only five cases were set during the time she was on the trips in question. She said one case was canceled by lawyers, two went to trial and were completed within two months of their cancellation and two were no-fault divorces, which meant they did not require a trial.
She said the second trip was scheduled over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and no trials were canceled or rescheduled.
“I’m entitled to take a vacation, and I still got my work done,” she said. “I have not taken excessive leave.”
Primeaux said he has spoken to residents in all four corners of Lauderdale and Clarke counties and claims there is a widespread belief that Springer is unfair.
“That needs to be dealt with, and the way to deal with it is to make a change,” he said.
But Springer said she would like to see specific examples of her unfairness.
“I would like to know what he is basing that on,” she said. “Apparently this campaign is being run on rumor and innuendo. I can’t, in my decisions, make both sides happy. It’s the nature of the work.
“My record speaks for itself,” Springer said. “I’ve done a very good job over the time I have been in office. I have been fair to everyone. I have done my best to do my job, to perform my duties well. I work hard to make chancery court a less stressful place for the litigants.”
Primeaux disagreed. He said he hopes to restore what has been missing from Springer’s chancery court bench.
“I decided that we needed a chancery judge who would devote full-time attention to the job, who would have a reputation for fairness and who would follow the law so that people would not have to appeal to get justice,” Primeaux said.
WHAT IS CHANCERY COURT?
Chancery court hears civil cases involving real property, wills, estates, divorce, child custody and support, adoption, lunacy and drug and school commitment. It keeps records of all wills and documents filed in cases presented to the court. After a time, records are retired to the vaults of the County Archives, in the Raymond P. Davis Courthouse Annex.
Source: www.lauderdalecounty.org
