This article is part of the series on the
Supreme Court of Arkansas
Current membership
Chief Justice
Associate justices
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 a chief justice.[1]

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.

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.[2] Below is a list of the judges that constituted that court:[3][4]

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 justices

Chief Justice In office Notes[5]
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 McClure 1871–1874 Constitution of 1868; previously an associate justice (position 5)
Elbert H. English 1874–1884  
Sterling Robertson Cockrill 1884–1893  
Henry Gaston Bunn 1893–1904 Appointed; subsequently elected
Joseph Morrison 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 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

List of associate justices

Position 2

Associate Justice
(position 2)		 In office Notes[5]
Townsend 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 appointed[6]
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 Dunn 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 2014–2023  
J. Cody Hiland 2023–present appointed

Position 3

Associate Justice
(position 3)		 In office Notes[5]
Thomas J. Lacy 1836–1845  
Edward Cross 1845–1846  
William Conway 1847–1848  
David Walker 1849–1855  
Thomas Burton Hanly 1856–1858  
Felix Ives 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 Wills 2008–2010 appointed
Courtney Rae Hudson 2010–present  

Position 4

Associate Justice
(position 4)		 In office Notes
William M. Harrison 1868–3123 Constitution of 1868
Marshall 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 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 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 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 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
James D. 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 Tuck 1997–2009  
William H. Bowen 2010 appointed
Ronald Lee Sheffield 2010 appointed
Karen R. Baker 2010–present  

Position 7

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  [7]
Cliff Hoofman 2013–2014  [8]
Rhonda K. Wood 2015–present  

References

  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ Hempstead, Samuel H. (1856). Hempstead's Reports. p. iii-iv.
  3. ^ Jones, William B., Jr. (August 23, 2023). "Supreme Court of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Bicentennial Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States (1983). Judges of the United States (2 ed.).
  5. ^ a b c 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 October 9, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Robert L. Brown - Judgepedia". December 8, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014.
  8. ^ "Cliff Hoofman - Judgepedia". October 6, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.


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