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Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Hudson vacancy (January 2025)
| Arkansas Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Hudson vacancy |
| Date: January 1, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Cody Hiland |
| Date: December 20, 2024 |
On December 20, 2024, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Hiland replaced Justice Courtney Rae Hudson, who was elected to another seat on the court on November 5, 2024. She took office for the second position associate justiceship on January 1, 2025, leaving her previous third position seat vacant. Hiland was Governor Sanders' second nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Hiland was previously appointed to replace previous justice Robin Wynne, who died on June 21, 2023.
In Arkansas, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
In the event of a midterm vacancy, an interim judge is selected by the governor to fill the empty seat. If the open seat would have been filled at the next general election if the vacancy did not occur, the appointed justice will serve the remainder of the unexpired term. If the open seat would not have been regularly filled at the next general election, the appointee will serve until the next general election if the vacancy occurred more than four months prior to the election. If the vacancy occurs less than four months prior to the next general election, then the justice will serve until the second succeeding general election. A justice appointed by the governor to serve an unexpired term is ineligible to run for re-election to their seat.[1]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Arkansas Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Cody Hiland
On December 20, 2024, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Cody Hiland was born in Bee Branch, Arkansas, and lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hiland earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Arkansas and a juris doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His career experience includes working as a prosecuting attorney, a state attorney, and an aide to former Governor Mike Huckabee.[2]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Arkansas
In Arkansas, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Arkansas Supreme Court
Justices
Due to multiple justices being elected to other seats, the following list of justices shows the list of justices and their positions as of November 4, 2024, the day before the 2024 Arkansas Supreme Court elections. Preceding Hudson's election to another seat, the Arkansas Supreme Court included the following members:
| Chief Justice ■ Dan Kemp | Elected in 2016 | |
| Position 2 ■ Cody Hiland | Appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in 2023 | |
| Position 4 ■ Barbara Webb | Elected in 2020 | |
| Position 5 ■ Shawn Womack | Elected in 2016 | |
| Position 6 ■ Karen R. Baker | Elected in 2010, 2014, and 2022 | |
| Position 7 ■ Rhonda Wood | Elected in 2014 and 2022 |
About the court
| Arkansas Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 7 |
| Founded: 1836 |
| Location: Little Rock |
| Salary |
| Associates: $203,625[3] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Nonpartisan elections |
| Term: 8 years |
| Active justices |
| Karen R. Baker, Nicholas Bronni, Cody Hiland, Courtney Rae Hudson, Barbara Webb, Shawn Womack, Rhonda Wood |
Founded in 1836, the Arkansas Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Karen R. Baker.
As of January 2025, five judges on the court were elected in nonpartisan elections. Two judges were appointed by a Republican governor.
The Arkansas Supreme Court meets in Little Rock, Arkansas. The court typically sits for a term beginning the first week of September and ending the first week of July.[4]
In Arkansas, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
About Justice Hudson
- See also: Courtney Rae Hudson
Hudson received her undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas in 1994, graduating magna cum laude, and her J.D. with high honors from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1997. Before joining the court, she clerked for Arkansas Court of Appeals Judges Terry Crabtree and Frank Arey.[2]
Hudson served on the Arkansas Court of Appeals representing District 3 from 2008 until 2010.[2]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Arkansas Judiciary, "Arkansas Supreme Court," accessed April 15, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Arkansas Governor, "Governor Sanders Announces Cody Hiland as Newest Arkansas Supreme Court Justice," accessed August 1, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Arkansas Judiciary, "Arkansas Supreme Court," accessed August 17, 2021
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Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas
State courts:
Arkansas Supreme Court • Arkansas Court of Appeals • Arkansas Circuit Courts • Arkansas District Courts • Arkansas City Courts
State resources:
Courts in Arkansas • Arkansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arkansas
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