List of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court
The following is a list of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court. Article VI, Section 1, of the Arkansas Constitution of 1836 established a Supreme Court; Section 2 declared it would consist of three judges, including a Chief Justice.[1]
Seal of the Supreme Court of Arkansas
The Reconstruction Constitution of 1868, which placed the state under military control, added two justices; the Arkansas Constitution of 1874 rolled back the expansion, but stipulated that once the population of the state should "amount to one million, the General Assembly may, if deemed necessary, increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court to five."[1] In 1889, the population milestone was reached, and the legislature authorized a total of five justices. Constitutional sanction of the enlargement came in 1924 with voter approval of Amendment 9, which also allowed for the future legislative creation of two additional judgeships. Act 205 of 1925 further increased the number of justices to seven.
Note: Some early justices were able to be elected to positions they were appointed to. Ark. Const., Amendment 29, adopted in 1938, prohibited state, county, and city appointees from being elected to the same position.
Chief Justices
| Chief Justice | In office | Notes[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Ringo | 1836–1844 | |
| Thomas Johnson | 1845–1852 | |
| George C. Watkins | 1853–1854 | |
| Elbert H. English | 1855–1864 | After May 6, 1861, the state was part of the Confederate States of America |
| Thomas D.W. Yonley | 1864–1866 | After April 9, 1865, the state was once again part of the USA |
| David Walker | 1866–1868 | Ousted by military commander |
| William W. Wilshire | 1868–1871 | |
| John E. McClure | 1871–1874 | Constitution of 1868; previously an associate justice (position 5) |
| Elbert H. English | 1874–1884 | |
| Sterling Robertson Cockrill | 1884–1893 | |
| Henry G. Bunn | 1893–1904 | Appointed; subsequently elected |
| Joseph M. Hill | 1904–1909 | |
| Edgar A. McCulloch | 1909–1927 | Appointed; subsequently elected |
| Jesse C. Hart | 1927–1933 | |
| Cecil E. Johnson | 1933–1936 | |
| Griffin Smith | 1937–1955 | |
| Lee Seamster | 1955–1956 | Appointed |
| Carleton Harris | 1957–1980 | |
| John A. Fogleman | 1980 | Appointed; previously an associate justice (position 6) |
| Richard B. Adkisson | 1980–1984 | |
| Webster Lee Hubbell | 1984 | Appointed by Governor Bill Clinton |
| Jack Holt Jr. | 1985–1995 | |
| Bradley D. Jesson | 1995–1996 | Appointed |
| W.H. "Dub" Arnold | 1997–2003 | |
| Betty Dickey | 2004 | Appointed |
| Jim Hannah | 2005–2015 | Previously an associate justice (position 5) |
| Howard W. Brill | 2015–2016 | Appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson |
| John Dan Kemp | 2017–Present |
Position 2 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 2) | In office | Notes[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Townsend Dickinson | 1836–1842 | |
| George W. Pashal | 1843 | |
| William K. Sebastian | 1843–1844 | |
| Williamson S. Oldham | 1845–1848 | |
| Christopher C. Scott | 1848–1859 | |
| Henry M. Rector | 1859–1860 | |
| Hulbert F. Fairchild | 1860–1864 | |
| Albert Pike | 1864–1865 | appointed[3] |
| Charles A. Harper | 1865–1866 | |
| Freeman W. Compton | 1866–1868 | ousted by military commander |
| Lafayette Gregg | 1868–1874 | Constitution of 1868 |
| David Walker | 1874–1878 | |
| Jesse Turner | 1878 | |
| John R. Eakin | 1878–1885 | |
| Burrill B. Battle | 1885–1910 | |
| William F. Kirby | 1910–1916 | |
| Thomas H. Humphreys | 1916–1942 | appointed |
| R.W. Robins | 1943–1949 | |
| Robert A. Leflar | 1949–1950 | appointed |
| Sam Robinson | 1951–1965 | |
| Osro Cobb | 1965–1966 | appointed |
| J. Fred Jones | 1967–1977 | |
| Elsijane Trimble Roy | 1977 | appointed |
| George Howard Jr. | 1977–1978 | appointed |
| John I. Purtle | 1979–1989 | |
| Otis H. Turner | 1990 | appointed |
| Donald L. Corbin | 1991–2014 | |
| Robin F. Wynne | 2014–Present |
Position 3 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 3) | In office | Notes[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas J. Lacy | 1836–1845 | |
| Edward Cross | 1845–1846 | |
| William Conway | 1847–1848 | |
| David Walker | 1849–1855 | |
| Thomas B. Hanly | 1856–1858 | |
| Felix I. Batson | 1859 | |
| Freeman W. Compton | 1859–1864 | Confederate |
| John J. Clendenin | 1866–1868 | |
| Thomas M. Bowen | 1868–1871 | |
| John E. Bennett | 1871–1874 | |
| Freeman W. Compton | 1874 | appointed |
| William M. Harrison | 1874–1882 | |
| William W. Smith | 1882–1888 | |
| Monte H. Sandels | 1889–1890 | |
| William W. Mansfield | 1891–1894 | |
| James E. Riddick | 1894–1907 | appointed; subsequently elected |
| Jesse C. Hart | 1907–1927 | appointed; subsequently elected |
| Edgar L. McHaney | 1927–1948 | |
| Charles C. Wine | 1948 | appointed |
| George Rose Smith | 1949–1987 | |
| Tom Glaze | 1987–2008 | |
| Elana Cunningham Wills | 2008–2010 | appointed |
| Courtney Rae Hudson | 2010–Present |
Position 4 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 4) | In office | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| M.L. Stephenson | 1873 | Constitution of 1868 |
| Wilson E. Hemingway | 1889–1893 | |
| Richard H. Powell | 1893 | appointed |
| Carroll D. Wood | 1893–1929 | |
| Turner Butler | 1929–1938 | |
| W.R. Donham | 1938 | appointed |
| J. Seaborn Holt | 1938–1961 | |
| Neill Bohlinger | 1961–1962 | appointed |
| J. Frank Holt | 1963–1966 | |
| Hugh M. Bland | 1966 | appointed |
| Conley Byrd | 1967–1980 | |
| Richard L. Mays | 1980 | appointed |
| Robert H. Dudley | 1981–1996 | |
| Ray Thornton | 1997–2004 | |
| Jim Gunter | 2005–2012 | |
| Josephine L. Hart | 2012–2020 | |
| Barbara Womack Webb | 2021–present |
Position 5 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 5) | In office | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| John E. McClure | 1868–1871 | Constitution of 1868 |
| Elhanan J. Searle | 1871–1873 | Constitution of 1868 |
| Simon Pollard Hughes Jr. | 1889–1904 | |
| Edgar A. McCulloch | 1904–1909 | |
| Samuel Frauenthal | 1909–1912 | appointed |
| Frank G. Smith | 1912–1949 | |
| Edwin Dunaway | 1949–1950 | appointed |
| Paul Ward | 1951–1968 | |
| J. Frank Holt | 1969–1983 | |
| P.A. "Les" Hollingsworth | 1984 | appointed |
| David Newbern | 1985–1998 | |
| Lavenski R. Smith | 1999–2000 | appointed |
| Jim Hannah | 2001–2004 | elected Chief Justice |
| Betty Dickey | 2005–2006 | appointed |
| Paul Danielson | 2006–2016 | |
| Shawn Womack | 2017–Present |
Position 6 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 6) | In office | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| William F. Kirby | 1927–1934 | |
| Basil Baker | 1934–1941 | |
| Karl Greenhaw | 1941–1942 | appointed |
| Ben Carter | 1943 | |
| Robert C. Knox | 1943–1944 | appointed |
| Minor W. Millwee | 1945–1958 | |
| William J. Smith | 1958 | appointed |
| Jim Johnson | 1959–1966 | |
| Guy Amsler | 1966 | appointed |
| John A. Fogleman | 1967–1980 | appointed Chief Justice |
| John F. Stroud Jr. | 1980 | appointed |
| Steele Hays | 1981–1994 | |
| Andree Layton Roaf | 1995–1996 | appointed |
| Annabelle Clinton Imber | 1997–2009 | |
| William H. Bowen | 2010 | appointed |
| Ronald Lee Sheffield | 2010 | appointed |
| Karen R. Baker | 2010–Present |
Position 7 – Associate Justices
| Associate Justice (position 7) | In office | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| James W. Mehaffy | 1927 | died before assuming office |
| Tom M. Mehaffy | 1927–1942 | appointed; subsequently elected |
| Ed F. McFaddin | 1943–1966 | |
| Lyle Brown | 1967–1975 | |
| Elsijane Trimble Roy | 1975–1977 | appointed |
| Darrell Hickman | 1977–1990 | |
| Dale Price | 1990 | |
| Robert L. Brown | 1991–2012 | [4] |
| Cliff Hoofman | 2013–2014 | [5] |
| Rhonda K. Wood | 2015–Present |
References
- William B. Jones Jr. (original compiler). "Arkansas Courts Historical Background". Courts Historical Background. State of Arkansas. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
- William B. Jones Jr. (original compiler). "Arkansas Courts Historical Background". Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of Arkansas (1836–2011). State of Arkansas. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
- Brown, Walter Lee (1997). A Life of Albert Pike. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press. pp. 426–429. ISBN 1-55728-469-5. LCCN 97019116. OL 673049M.
- http://judgepedia.org/Robert_L._Brown
- http://judgepedia.org/Cliff_Hoofman
External links
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