Tammy Curtis, and from court documentation

Former local state representative and pharmacist Marsh Davis, 59, of Cherokee Village, was arrested and jailed last week for contempt of court. He was ordered by a judge to be held in the Fulton County Jail for 30 days or until he pays over $26,000 in back child support. This is the seventh time Davis has been brought before the court in an over 13-year battle in which his ex-wife, Andrea Taylor, has continually struggled to force him to pay child support for their two children after the 2010 divorce. 

This time, 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Don McSpadden had his fill. 

Davis began failing to pay the court-ordered $1,400 monthly obligation plus half of his son’s medical costs in 2011, shortly after the couple’s divorce.

Taylor was first forced to petition for contempt in February 2011 after Davis failed to pay four months of child support. He subsequently paid that unpaid support the day before a hearing on the petition. 

The second petition filed in 2013 resulted in a $11,200 judgment against the former congressman on Dec. 12, 2013, for $3,757 in back child support.  He subsequently satisfied the judgment. Again, in April 2016, Taylor filed a third petition for contempt when Davis was $7,000 behind in child support. He subsequently paid that arrearage as well. 

The fourth battle to force him to pay his obligation was a few years later, in 2019. At that time, Davis had not paid the support for a portion of 2019, 2020, or 2021, equalling $31,221.50. He again paid the back support days before the contempt hearing set for July of that year. At that time, Davis agreed to comply strictly with his support obligation. 

After leaving the courtroom, he seemingly forgot his obligation and again fell behind, forcing his ex-wife to petition the court for the fifth time in December 2021.

The case was closed in 2022 and re-opened in March 2023 for the sixth time after two of Davis’s $1,400 checks for child support were returned from the bank for insufficient funds. Taylor’s attorney, Barrett Moore, set a hearing for contempt in Fulton County Circuit Court on Aug. 14. Davis was served on July 17 at Walgreens in Jonesboro with the Show Cause Order to appear in court on the contempt charge. He failed to do so.

The seventh contempt charge was filed on Aug. 28 in Fulton County Circuit Court and signed by Circuit Judge Don McSpadden. This landed Davis in the detention center for 30 days or longer with a body attachment until he pays the $26,161.32 in back child support, attorney’s fees and interest due. Davis was arrested Sept. 4 by Sheriff Jake Smith after failing to attend the scheduled hearing. 

On Aug. 12, a writ of garnishment for failing to pay Arkansas income taxes of over $8,300 was also filed in Fulton County Circuit Court against Davis, who is employed by Walgreens in Little Rock. 

Davis was a one-term Arkansas Representative who served the former District 61 from 2019-23, which included parts of Fulton and Sharp County. Davis was defeated by current State Representative Trey Steimel, who now serves the redistricted District 2.