Justices of the peace are judges who handle both civil and criminal cases, including small claims court, justice court, and administrative hearings. In practical terms, these are lawsuits over debts, evictions, car accidents, unlawful towing, and property.
Their criminal workload involves disposing of all class C criminal misdemeanor complaints, such as traffic citations, issuance of bad check, and others. These cases involve payment, setting contested cases for trial, and pretrial hearings with the county prosecutor.
Other duties include presiding over peace bond hearings, reviewing applications for mental health or chemically dependent commitments, conducting compulsory school attendance trials, and giving warnings to juveniles required by law. They issue warrants for and conduct hearings concerning seizure and disposition of cruelly treated animals. Most justices of the peace perform marriage ceremonies as well.
In Arkansas, justices of the peace are elected officials who serve on the quorum court of each county, which is the legislative body of the county government. They are not judges who handle civil and criminal cases in the judicial sense. Instead, Arkansas has district courts that handle matters such as small claims, civil lawsuits, evictions, traffic violations, and misdemeanors. District court judges or magistrates preside over these cases, not justices of the peace. Justices of the peace in Arkansas primarily focus on county legislative responsibilities, such as budgetary and administrative functions, rather than judicial proceedings. They do not have the authority to preside over criminal cases, conduct trials, or perform judicial functions related to mental health commitments or compulsory school attendance. However, they may have the authority to perform marriage ceremonies. It's important to note that the role of justices of the peace can vary significantly from state to state, and the description provided does not apply to the justices of the peace in Arkansas.