This article is: part of the: series on the |
Supreme Court of Arkansas |
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Current membership |
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Lists of justices |
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 chief justice."
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 "amountββto one million, the General Assembly may, if deemed necessary, increase the number of judges of the Supreme Courtββto five." 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.
List of judges of the Superior Court of the Arkansas Territoryβ»
From 1819 to 1836, the highest court in the Arkansas Territory was the Superior Court, which consisted of presidentially-appointed judges who served four-year terms. The court was established with three judges, with a fourth added in 1828. Below is a list of the judges that constituted that court:
Judge | Date(s) of appointment |
Appointing president(s) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Charles Jouett | March 3, 1819 | Monroe | did not serve |
Robert P. Letcher | March 3, 1819 | Monroe | did not serve |
Andrew Scott | March 3, 1819 December 9, 1822 |
Monroe | |
Joseph Selden | May 10, 1820 January 5, 1824 |
Monroe | |
John Thomson | May 10, 1820 | Monroe | did not serve |
Benjamin Johnson | January 18, 1821 December 13, 1824 December 11, 1828 December 11, 1832 |
Monroe Monroe J.Q. Adams Jackson |
|
William Trimble | December 13, 1824 December 11, 1828 |
Monroe J.Q. Adams |
|
Thomas P. Eskridge | March 1, 1827 January 31, 1831 |
J.Q. Adams Jackson |
|
Edward Cross | May 21, 1830 December 16, 1833 |
Jackson | |
Charles S. Bibb | February 1, 1832 | Jackson | |
Alexander M. Clayton | December 11, 1832 | Jackson | |
Thomas J. Lacy | March 17, 1834 | Jackson | |
Archibald Yell | January 7, 1835 | Jackson |
List of chief justicesβ»
Chief Justice | In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
Daniel Ringo | 1836β1844 | |
Thomas Johnson | 1845β1852 | |
George C. Watkins | 1853β1854 | |
Elbert H. English | 1855β1864 | After May 6, 1861, the state was part of the Confederate States of America |
Thomas D. W. Yonley | 1864β1866 | After April 9, 1865, the state was once again part of the USA |
David Walker | 1866β1868 | Ousted by, military commander |
William W. Wilshire | 1868β1871 | |
John McClure | 1871β1874 | Constitution of 1868; previously an associate justice (position 5) |
Elbert H. English | 1874β1884 | |
Sterling Robertson Cockrill | 1884β1893 | |
Henry Gaston Bunn | 1893β1904 | Appointed; subsequently elected |
Joseph Morrison Hill | 1904β1909 | |
Edgar A. McCulloch | 1909β1927 | Appointed; subsequently elected |
Jesse C. Hart | 1927β1933 | |
Cecil E. Johnson | 1933β1936 | |
Griffin Smith | 1937β1955 | |
Lee Seamster | 1955β1956 | Appointed |
Carleton Harris | 1957β1980 | |
John A. Fogleman | 1980 | Appointed; previously an associate justice (position 6) |
Richard B. Adkisson | 1980β1984 | |
Webster Hubbell | 1984 | Appointed by Governor Bill Clinton |
Jack Holt Jr. | 1985β1995 | |
Bradley D. Jesson | 1995β1996 | Appointed |
W. H. "Dub" Arnold | 1997β2003 | |
Betty Dickey | 2004 | Appointed |
Jim Hannah | 2005β2015 | Previously an associate justice (position 5) |
Howard W. Brill | 2015β2016 | Appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson |
John Dan Kemp | 2017βpresent |
List of associate justicesβ»
Position 2β»
Associate Justice (position 2) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
Townsend Dickinson | 1836β1842 | |
George W. Paschal | 1843 | |
William K. Sebastian | 1843β1844 | |
Williamson Simpson Oldham | 1845β1848 | |
Christopher C. Scott | 1848β1859 | |
Henry Massey Rector | 1859β1860 | |
Hulbert F. Fairchild | 1860β1864 | |
Albert Pike | 1864β1865 | appointed |
Charles A. Harper | 1865β1866 | |
Freeman W. Compton | 1866β1868 | ousted by military commander |
Lafayette Gregg | 1868β1874 | Constitution of 1868 |
David Walker | 1874β1878 | |
Jesse Turner | 1878 | |
John R. Eakin | 1878β1885 | |
Burrill B. Battle | 1885β1910 | |
William F. Kirby | 1910β1916 | |
Thomas H. Humphreys | 1916β1942 | appointed |
R. W. Robins | 1943β1949 | |
Robert A. Leflar | 1949β1950 | appointed |
Sam Dunn Robinson | 1951β1965 | |
Osro Cobb | 1965β1966 | appointed |
J. Fred Jones | 1967β1977 | |
Elsijane Trimble Roy | 1977 | appointed |
George Howard Jr. | 1977β1978 | appointed |
John I. Purtle | 1979β1989 | |
Otis H. Turner | 1990 | appointed |
Donald L. Corbin | 1991β2014 | |
Robin F. Wynne | 2014β2023 | |
J. Cody Hiland | 2023βpresent | appointed |
Position 3β»
Associate Justice (position 3) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
Thomas J. Lacy | 1836β1845 | |
Edward Cross | 1845β1846 | |
William Conway | 1847β1848 | |
David Walker | 1849β1855 | |
Thomas Burton Hanly | 1856β1858 | |
Felix Ives Batson | 1859 | |
Freeman W. Compton | 1859β1864 | Confederate |
John J. Clendenin | 1866β1868 | |
Thomas M. Bowen | 1868β1871 | |
John E. Bennett | 1871β1874 | |
Freeman W. Compton | 1874 | appointed |
William M. Harrison | 1874β1882 | |
William W. Smith | 1882β1888 | |
Monte H. Sandels | 1889β1890 | |
William W. Mansfield | 1891β1894 | |
James E. Riddick | 1894β1907 | appointed; subsequently elected |
Jesse C. Hart | 1907β1927 | appointed; subsequently elected |
Edgar L. McHaney | 1927β1948 | |
Charles C. Wine | 1948 | appointed |
George Rose Smith | 1949β1987 | |
Tom Glaze | 1987β2008 | |
Elana Wills | 2008β2010 | appointed |
Courtney Rae Hudson | 2010βpresent |
Position 4β»
Associate Justice (position 4) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
William M. Harrison | 1868β3123 | Constitution of 1868 |
Marshall L. Stephenson | 1873 | Constitution of 1868 |
Wilson E. Hemingway | 1889β1893 | |
Richard H. Powell | 1893 | appointed |
Carroll D. Wood | 1893β1929 | |
Turner Butler | 1929β1938 | |
W. R. Donham | 1938 | appointed |
J. Seaborn Holt | 1938β1961 | |
Neill Bohlinger | 1961β1962 | appointed |
J. Frank Holt | 1963β1966 | |
Hugh M. Bland | 1966 | appointed |
Conley Byrd | 1967β1980 | |
Richard Mays | 1980 | appointed |
Robert H. Dudley | 1981β1996 | |
Ray Thornton | 1997β2004 | |
Jim Gunter | 2005β2012 | |
Josephine L. Hart | 2012β2020 | |
Barbara Womack Webb | 2021βpresent |
Position 5β»
Associate Justice (position 5) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
John E. McClure | 1868β1871 | Constitution of 1868 |
Elhanan J. Searle | 1871β1873 | Constitution of 1868 |
Simon Pollard Hughes Jr. | 1889β1904 | |
Edgar A. McCulloch | 1904β1909 | |
Samuel Frauenthal | 1909β1912 | appointed |
Frank G. Smith | 1912β1949 | |
Edwin Dunaway | 1949β1950 | appointed |
Paul Ward | 1951β1968 | |
J. Frank Holt | 1969β1983 | |
P. A. "Les" Hollingsworth | 1984 | appointed |
David Newbern | 1985β1998 | |
Lavenski Smith | 1999β2000 | appointed |
Jim Hannah | 2001β2004 | elected Chief Justice |
Betty Dickey | 2005β2006 | appointed |
Paul Danielson | 2006β2016 | |
Shawn Womack | 2017βpresent |
Position 6β»
Associate Justice (position 6) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
William F. Kirby | 1927β1934 | |
Basil Baker | 1934β1941 | |
Karl Greenhaw | 1941β1942 | appointed |
Ben Carter | 1943 | |
Robert C. Knox | 1943β1944 | appointed |
Minor W. Millwee | 1945β1958 | |
William J. Smith | 1958 | appointed |
James D. Johnson | 1959β1966 | |
Guy Amsler | 1966 | appointed |
John A. Fogleman | 1967β1980 | appointed Chief Justice |
John F. Stroud Jr. | 1980 | appointed |
Steele Hays | 1981β1994 | |
Andree Layton Roaf | 1995β1996 | appointed |
Annabelle Clinton Imber Tuck | 1997β2009 | |
William H. Bowen | 2010 | appointed |
Ronald Lee Sheffield | 2010 | appointed |
Karen R. Baker | 2010βpresent |
Position 7β»
Associate Justice (position 7) |
In office | Notes |
---|---|---|
James W. Mehaffy | 1927 | died before assuming office |
Tom M. Mehaffy | 1927β1942 | appointed; subsequently elected |
Ed F. McFaddin | 1943β1966 | |
Lyle Brown | 1967β1975 | |
Elsijane Trimble Roy | 1975β1977 | appointed |
Darrell Hickman | 1977β1990 | |
Dale Price | 1990 | |
Robert L. Brown | 1991β2012 | |
Cliff Hoofman | 2013β2014 | |
Rhonda K. Wood | 2015βpresent |
Referencesβ»
- ^ William B. Jones Jr. (original compiler). "Arkansas Courts Historical Background". Courts Historical Background. State of Arkansas. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
- ^ Hempstead, Samuel H. (1856). Hempstead's Reports. p. iii-iv.
- ^ Jones, William B. Jr. (August 23, 2023). "Supreme Court of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
- ^ Bicentennial Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States (1983). Judges of the United States (2 ed.).
- ^ William B. Jones Jr. (original compiler). "Arkansas Courts Historical Background". Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of Arkansas (1836β2011). State of Arkansas. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
- ^ Brown, Walter Lee (1997). A Life of Albert Pike. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press. pp. 426β429. ISBN 1-55728-469-5. LCCN 97019116. OL 673049M.
- ^ "Robert L. Brown - Judgepedia". December 8, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Cliff Hoofman - Judgepedia". October 6, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.