The District Courts in Arkansas are the number one way that small cities and municipalities generate revenue. Fines, fees, and court costs generate millions of dollars for larger cities, and the judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers all know this.

If you suspect that means that the police have an incentive to pull you over and write you a citation, and the judge has an incentive to find you guilty, you are correct. Not to mention that in Arkansas, District Courts are not "courts of record" - this means that there is no court reporter, so the judge can do whatever he/she wants, with no appellate review of his/her actions.

So if the system is stacked against you in District Court, what good will it do you to hire a lawyer?

The answer is very simple: IT CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

The reasons are many:

1. A lawyer with experience in the District Court where you are scheduled to appear knows the "ins and outs" of that Court. He knows what judge is likely to agree to certain types of plea bargains. He knows what evidence the judge is likely to let into court, and what evidence the judge is likely to exclude. He has a working relationship with the prosecutor, which opens up lots of possible resolutions to your case. He also knows the court clerks, which makes scheduling go much more smoothly, and can potentially allow you to avoid having to appear for at least one scheduled appearance.
   
   
2. An earlier citation is always easier to "fix" than a later one. Right now, you may be thinking "I'll just pay the fine... I'm sure I won't get another charge." The problem with that is that if you DO pick up another charge, your options are that much more limited the next time around. You want to put up a strong defense on the first charge, to mitigate against additional damage if you pick up a later one.
   
   
3. An experienced lawyer will have a lot of "tools in his toolbox," some of which you don't even know exist. Attorneys at The Bargar Law Firm routinely work with prosecutors to get misdemeanor charges reduced to non-criminal offenses, or work out deals resulting in deferred adjudication, involving the payment of some minor fines, and the dismissal of the underlying charge. Very rarely do District Court cases result in incarceration upon disposition (an exception would be conviction for DWI or subsequent DWI, which may require some jail time - this varies by jurisdiction).
   
   
4. Some misdemeanor criminal cases have serious negative ramifications that you may not be aware of. Did you know that in Arkansas, if you are convicted of Battery 3^rd Degree, you can still hold a Registered Nursing license, but if you are convicted of Domestic Battery 3^rd Degree, you may be barred from holding the same license for life.? These are both Class A level Misdemeanors, but if you are convicted of one of them, you could lose your career.
   
   
5. Often, once a client hires us, we are able to conclude their case without the client ever stepping into court. We can't know for sure if this is possible before accepting any given case, but we are able to do so in more than one- half of the cases we handle.