Judge Rita Gruber will be the guest speaker for the Bryant Rotary Club on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Gabe’s Grill in Bryant.
Elected to the Arkansas Court of Appeals in May, 2008, Judge Gruber took office Jan. 1, 2009. She serves the 6th Judicial District, which includes Saline, Pulaski, and Perry Counties. Since taking office, she has heard many types of cases, including civil, criminal, administrative, and everything in between.[more]
Judge Gruber served four terms as Circuit Judge. After taking the bench in 1991 she helped to establish a Volunteer Probation Officer program to work with first time offenders.
She also established a specialized teen parenting program, a truancy alternative school and helped plan the CSTP juvenile boot camp at Camp Robinson. Before her election as Circuit Judge she served as interim Pulaski County Judge and had a 10 year law practice in North Little Rock.
Judge Gruber is also very active in the community. She is on the board of the Quapaw Area Boy Scouts Council and has received their Silver Beaver and James E. West Fellow awards. She serves on the Salvation Army Advisory Board and North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce Board and was a director on the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and the Boys and Girls Club Advisory Committee. Judge Gruber has been an instructor for the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards/Training and the C.A.L.L. Initiative for foster and adoption recruitment, training and support.
She worked on the Little Rock Fight Back Committee, the Pulaski County Prevention Institute Enforcement/Judicial Committee, the UALR Bowen School of Law Mediation Advisory Committee, Lawyers Helping Lawyers Committee and the Coordinating Council Child and Adolescent Service System Program. Over the years Judge Gruber has received many awards including a Commendation Award from the Pulaski County Quorum Court, the Community Service Award from the Central Arkansas Mental Health Services and the Arkansas Council of Mental Health Centers Distinguished Community Service award.
