Moore Re-Elected; Oxford Elected Coroner In Benton County
Last updated Tuesday, June 10, 2008 10:29 PM CDT in News
By Anna Fry
The Morning News
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BENTONVILLE - Voters re-elected Kurt Moore as District 13 justice of the peace and elected Daniel Oxford as county coroner in Republican primary runoffs Tuesday.
Both will take office, barring a successful write-in campaign, because no Democrats filed for the offices.
In final, unofficial results, Moore received 484 votes (59 percent) compared with James "Jake" Naramore's 332 votes (41 percent). Moore and Naramore entered the runoff after receiving the two highest vote totals in a primary election May 20, beating out Jerry N. Harris and Dustin Craig.
"I'm looking forward to serving my constituents for two more years," Moore said.
While a "whole laundry list" of things need to be done, bridge replacement is the priority issue, Moore said. Four bridges in his district have been closed in the past five years, which renders the roads leading to them worthless, he said.
Moore, 51, of Siloam Springs will serve his sixth term as justice of the peace. His district is in southwest Benton County and includes part of Siloam Springs. Moore also served one term as constable.
He is a teacher at Northwest Technical Institute.
Moore is one of 13 justices of the peace that make up the Quorum Court, the county's top legislative body.
In final, unofficial results, Oxford led with 4,312 votes (69 percent) compared with Kenneth Lepp's 1,971 votes (31 percent). Oxford and Lepp beat out Caris Smith and Craig Schatz on May 20.
"It's been a long, hard fight," Oxford said. "The main, most important thing is I truly appreciate the people of Benton County. I appreciate their vote and they did not go wrong here."
Wesley Lewis has served as interim coroner since the resignation of Kimberly Scott last year. Scott resigned as part of plea negotiations in which she admitted to stealing and ingesting prescription medicine from death scenes.
Oxford, 34, of Gravette has been chief deputy coroner since early 2006. He took over administrative duties for 10 months between when Scott stopped attending death scenes and Lewis' appointment.
The office's relationships with hospice workers, law enforcement and funeral home directors have already been repaired, Oxford said previously. To maintain the office's integrity, all families must be treated the same, he said.
The coroner is responsible for determining the cause and manner of deaths that occur outside a hospital or within 24 hours of hospital admittance.
The Morning News' Don Dailey contributed to this report.
What's Next
District Judge Runoff
Benton County voters will choose district judges for Rogers and Bentonville courts in a runoff on Nov. 5, the same day as the general election. Ben Lipscomb and Brad Karren are vying for the Rogers office. Judge John A. Skaggs and Lisa Gaddy are vying for the Bentonville office.
Source: Staff Report
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