Roy Lee Russell v. Wendy Kelley, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction, 585 S.W.3d 658

Roy Lee Russell was convicted by a jury in 2013 of two felonies and received consecutive sentences totaling 660 months.
The original sentencing order misstated the total; an amended sentencing order (correcting the clerical error) was entered on August 19, 2013, signed by retired Judge Ted Capeheart, who had been assigned to cover the trial dates.
In 2016 Russell filed a habeas petition arguing the trial court lacked jurisdiction because Judge Capeheart signed the amended order after his authority had ended; the habeas petition was denied and this court affirmed that clerical correction was permissible.
In 2018 Russell again filed a habeas petition and a motion to proceed in forma pauperis repeating the same jurisdictional challenge based on the amended order.
The Chicot County Circuit Court denied pauper status, finding the claim raised was jurisdictional and had already been decided; Russell appealed and moved to supplement the record.
The Arkansas Supreme Court concluded the circuit court did not abuse its discretion, the claim was previously rejected, dismissed the appeal, and deemed the motion to supplement the record moot.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Russell should be allowed to proceed in forma pauperis on his habeas petition	Russell argued the amended sentencing order was invalid because Judge Capeheart lacked authority when he signed it, so the judgment was facially invalid and warrants habeas relief	State argued Russell’s claim was meritless because the amended order merely corrected a clerical error and the jurisdictional challenge had already been decided against Russell	Denied — circuit court did not abuse discretion; petition failed to state a colorable cause of action
Whether correction of a clerical sentencing error by an assigned/retired judge deprives the court of jurisdiction	Russell claimed the timing/authority of Judge Capeheart rendered the amended order void on its face	State maintained that correcting a clerical error to make the judgment speak the truth is within the court’s authority and does not implicate jurisdiction	Held that clerical corrections do not implicate jurisdiction; prior decision rejecting this claim is controlling

Morgan v. Kelley, 575 S.W.3d 108 (Ark. 2019) (standard of review for in forma pauperis rulings)
Anderson v. Kelley, 549 S.W.3d 913 (Ark. 2018) (prior-habeas rulings precluding relitigation of issues)
Garrison v. Kelley, 534 S.W.3d 136 (Ark. 2018) (statutory requirements for habeas petitions and probable-cause showing)
Muldrow v. Kelley, 542 S.W.3d 856 (Ark. 2018) (denial of pauper status affirmed when petition fails to state a colorable claim)
Mack v. Kelley, 562 S.W.3d 845 (Ark. 2018) (definition of a colorable cause of action)
Hobbs v. Gordon, 434 S.W.3d 364 (Ark. 2014) (clearly erroneous standard for factual findings)
Baker v. Norris, 255 S.W.3d 466 (Ark. 2007) (definition of subject-matter jurisdiction)