Melanie Martin, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney in Pulaski County, has announced as a candidate for First Division Little Rock District Court judge in the election in May 2018.

Alice Lightle retired from the seat early and Hugh Finkelstein was appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to fill the vacancy, but, by law, he may not run for the office.

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Martin, a 25-year veteran of the prosecutor’s office, is president of the Pulaski County Bar Foundation and former president of the County Bar Association.

A release said that Martin oversees the gangs/major crimes unit, asset forfeitures and two circuit courts and prosecutes homicide cases. She’s a Mountain Home native and graduate of the University of Arkansas and the UALR law school.

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The first division is the criminal division of district court. The seat is elected countywide. It began as the criminal division of Little Rock Municipal Court, but such courts have now been folded into the state court system.

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