Arkansas Legal Overview: Fort Smith The Fort Smith metropolitan area is defined by the Census Bureau as covering five counties across two states. It includes Sebastian, Crawford and Franklin counties in Arkansas, and Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma. Circuit courts are the main trial courts with general jurisdiction for the three Arkansas counties, while district courts serve are the main trial courts for the Oklahoma counties. Fort Smith metro residents in both states must follow their own county's judicial system. Listed below are the main cities in the Fort Smith metro area.
Top Arkansas cities for Legal Issues: Fort Smith
1. Sebastian County is served by the 12th judicial circuit located in Fort Smith, whose circuit clerk is responsible for all original jurisdiction court filings in the county from criminal prosecutions to child support and Arkansas divorce petitions. Also in Fort Smith is the Sebastian County District Court, which has limited jurisdiction over misdemeanors, traffic violations and local ordinance violations. The city of Van Buren has the Crawford County Circuit Court and the Van Buren department of the Crawford County District Court. 2. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas dismissed an employment dispute lawsuit filed by ABF Freight System against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for violations of the National Master Freight Agreement. 3. Butterball announced that it has settled a four year old donning and doffing class-action lawsuit for $4.25 million, which includes 25 minutes additional pay per day for workers employed between October 1, 2006 and July 1, 2012 at plants in Ozark and Huntsville. This settlement amount does not include legal expenses and court costs.
Crawford County Circuit Court
Crawford County Circuit Clerk Sebastian County District Court Arkansas Fifth Judicial Circuit Arkansas Court of Appeals
Trending Fort Smith Legal Topics: Franklin County shares the Arkansas fifth judicial circuit with Pope and Johnson counties. This circuit court is located in Russellville, which is in Pope County and not part of the Fort Smith metro area. However, Franklin County District Courts can be found in Ozark and Charleston, which are both county seats. Appeals against all these Arkansas courts can be filed with the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The Oklahoma counties have a different appellate system, because Oklahoma has two separate courts of last resort for civil and criminal matters. |