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.

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." 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 Territory 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: JudgeDate(s) ofappointmentAppointingpresident(s)NotesMonroedid not serveMonroedid not serveMonroeMonroeMonroedid not serveMonroeMonroeJ.Q. AdamsJacksonMonroeJ.Q. AdamsJ.Q. AdamsJacksonJacksonJacksonJacksonJacksonJackson

List of chief justices Chief JusticeIn officeNotesDaniel Ringo1836–1844  Thomas Johnson1845–1852 George C. Watkins1853–1854 Elbert H. English1855–1864 After May 6, 1861, the state was part of the Confederate States of AmericaThomas D. W. Yonley1864–1866 After April 9, 1865, the state was once again part of the USADavid Walker1866–1868Ousted by military commanderWilliam W. Wilshire1868–1871 John McClure1871–1874Constitution of 1868; previously an associate justice (position 5)Elbert H. English1874–1884  Sterling R. Cockrill1884–1893 Henry Gaston Bunn1893–1904Appointed; subsequently electedJoseph M. Hill1904–1909 Edgar A. McCulloch1909–1927Appointed; subsequently electedJesse C. Hart1927–1933  Cecil E. Johnson1933–1936 Griffin Smith1937–1955 Lee Seamster1955–1956AppointedCarleton Harris1957–1980 John A. Fogleman1980Appointed; previously an associate justice (position 6)Richard B. Adkisson1980–1984 Webster Hubbell1984Appointed by Governor Bill ClintonJack Holt Jr.1985–1995 Bradley D. Jesson1995–1996AppointedW. H. "Dub" Arnold1997–2003 Betty Dickey2004AppointedJim Hannah2005–2015Previously an associate justice (position 5)Howard W. Brill2015–2016Appointed by Governor Asa HutchinsonJohn Dan Kemp2017–2025Karen R. Baker2025–present

List of associate justices

Position 2 Associate Justice(position 2)In officeNotesTownsend Dickinson 1836–1842 George W. Paschal 1843 William K. Sebastian 1843–1844 Williamson Simpson Oldham 1845–1848 Christopher C. Scott 1848–1859 Henry Massey Rector 1859–1860 Hulbert F. Fairchild 1860–1864 Albert Pike 1864–1865 appointedCharles A. Harper 1865–1866 Freeman W. Compton 1866–1868 ousted by military commanderLafayette Gregg 1868–1874 Constitution of 1868David 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 appointedR. W. Robins 1943–1949 Robert A. Leflar 1949–1950 appointedSam Dunn Robinson 1951–1965 Osro Cobb 1965–1966 appointedJ. Fred Jones 1967–1977 Elsijane Trimble Roy 1977 appointedGeorge Howard Jr. 1977–1978 appointedJohn I. Purtle 1979–1989 Otis H. Turner 1990 appointedDonald L. Corbin 1991–2014 Robin F. Wynne2014–2023 J. Cody Hiland 2023–2025 appointedCourtney Rae Hudson 2025–present  

Position 3 Associate Justice(position 3)In officeNotesThomas J. Lacy1836–1845 Edward Cross1845–1846 William Conway 1847–1848 David Walker 1849–1855 Thomas Burton Hanly 1856–1858 Felix Ives Batson 1859 Freeman W. Compton 1859–1864 ConfederateJohn J. Clendenin 1866–1868 Thomas M. Bowen 1868–1871 John E. Bennett 1871–1874 Freeman W. Compton 1874 appointedWilliam 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 electedJesse C. Hart 1907–1927 appointed; subsequently electedEdgar L. McHaney 1927–1948 Charles C. Wine 1948 appointedGeorge Rose Smith 1949–1987 Tom Glaze 1987–2008 Elana Wills 2008–2010 appointedCourtney Rae Hudson2010–2025 J. Cody Hiland2025–present appointed

Position 4 Associate Justice(position 4)In officeNotesWilliam M. Harrison 1868–3123 Constitution of 1868Marshall L. Stephenson 1873 Constitution of 1868Wilson E. Hemingway 1889–1893 Richard H. Powell 1893 appointedCarroll D. Wood 1893–1929 Turner Butler 1929–1938 William R. Donham 1938 appointedJ. Seaborn Holt 1938–1961 Neill Bohlinger 1961–1962 appointedJ. Frank Holt 1963–1966 Hugh M. Bland 1966 appointedConley Byrd 1967–1980 Richard Mays 1980 appointedRobert H. Dudley 1981–1996 Ray Thornton 1997–2004 Jim Gunter 2005–2012 Josephine L. Hart2012–2020 Barbara Womack Webb2021–present 

Position 5 Associate Justice(position 5)In officeNotesJohn E. McClure 1868–1871 Constitution of 1868Elhanan J. Searle 1871–1873 Constitution of 1868Simon Pollard Hughes Jr. 1889–1904 Edgar A. McCulloch 1904–1909 Samuel Frauenthal 1909–1912 appointedFrank G. Smith 1912–1949 Edwin Dunaway 1949–1950 appointedPaul Ward 1951–1968 J. Frank Holt 1969–1983 P. A. "Les" Hollingsworth 1984 appointedDavid Newbern 1985–1998 Lavenski Smith 1999–2000 appointedJim Hannah 2001–2004 elected Chief JusticeBetty Dickey 2005–2006 appointedPaul Danielson2006–2016 Shawn Womack2017–present

Position 6 Associate Justice(position 6)In officeNotesWilliam F. Kirby 1927–1934 Basil Baker 1934–1941 Karl Greenhaw 1941–1942 appointedBen Carter 1943 Robert C. Knox 1943–1944 appointedMinor W. Millwee 1945–1958 William J. Smith 1958 appointedJames D. Johnson 1959–1966 Guy Amsler 1966 appointedJohn A. Fogleman 1967–1980 appointed Chief JusticeJohn F. Stroud Jr. 1980 appointedSteele Hays 1981–1994 Andree Layton Roaf 1995–1996 appointedAnnabelle Clinton Imber Tuck 1997–2009 William H. Bowen 2010 appointedRonald Lee Sheffield 2010 appointedKaren R. Baker2010–2025 Nicholas Bronni2025–present appointed

Position 7 Associate Justice(position 7)In officeNotesJames W. Mehaffy 1927 died before assuming officeTom M. Mehaffy 1927–1942 appointed; subsequently electedEd F. McFaddin 1943–1966 Lyle Brown 1967–1975 Elsijane Trimble Roy 1975–1977 appointedDarrell Hickman 1977–1990 Dale Price 1990 Robert L. Brown1991–2012 Cliff Hoofman2013–2014 Rhonda K. Wood2015–present 

References

External links Arkansas Judiciary page on Justices, Judges and Officers of the Courts Supreme Court Justices | Arkansas Judiciary