Lisa Parks, a lawyer living in Springdale and working for the local Drug Court, announced Tuesday (Nov. 19) she is running to be the Juvenile Court judge in Washington and Madison counties.
The incumbent, Circuit Judge Stacey Zimmerman, has announced she is seeking re-election on the May 20, 2014, ballot.
Parks, 48, a University of Arkansas School of Law graduate, said in a news release the U.S. Census Bureau ranks Arkansas last among states “in the category of disconnected youth.”
She said allowing disconnected youth to sit idle “spells trouble.”
“I will put idle hands to work cleaning and doing things that matter by making community service a condition of release,” she said.
She said accountability is the best solution for a mistake or crime.
“Accountability must extend not only to the children but also to the parents,” she said in the release. “I’ll hold children accountable, but I’ll also ask whether the parent’s lack of participation was part of the problem. For example, if it’s a school truancy problem, then why is the parent or guardian not showing up at parent-teacher conferences?”
Parks said Juvenile Court is where authorities “can prevent a lifetime of criminal behavior.”
Parks and her husband, lawyer Scott Parks, have four children and one grandchild.
