Arkansas Supreme Court elections

There are seven justices on the Arkansas Supreme Court. In Arkansas, judges are elected for eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections. Vacancies are filled by interim appointments by the governor, and appointed judges may not run to succeed themselves in the next election. For more information about these elections, visit the Arkansas judicial elections page.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Arkansas

The seven justices on the Arkansas Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections. They compete in nonpartisan general elections—occurring at the same time as the primary elections for other state officials—in which the candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the vote wins the seat. If no candidate garners a majority of the vote, the top two candidates compete in a runoff during the November general election.^[1]

The winners are elected to eight-year terms.^[1]

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a justice must be:^[2]

licensed to practice law in Arkansas for at least eight years;
a qualified elector within the geographic area from which chosen.

Chief justice

The court's chief justice is selected by voters at large and serves in that capacity for a full eight-year term.^[3]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

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]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Elections

Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Arkansas Supreme Court Position 7

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Arkansas Supreme Court Position 4

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Arkansas Supreme Court Position 3

General election

The general election will occur on March 3, 2026.

General election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 3

Incumbent Nicholas Bronni (Nonpartisan) and John Adams (Nonpartisan) are running in the general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 3 on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Nicholas Bronni (Nonpartisan)
		John Adams (Nonpartisan)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Arkansas Supreme Court Position 6

General election

The general election will occur on March 3, 2026.

General election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 6

Incumbent Cody Hiland (Nonpartisan) is running in the general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 6 on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Cody Hiland (Nonpartisan)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice

General Runoff

General Runoff election for Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice

Karen R. Baker (Nonpartisan) defeated Rhonda Wood (Nonpartisan) in the general runoff for Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Karen R. Baker (Nonpartisan)	52.7	546,713
	Rhonda Wood (Nonpartisan)	47.3	491,148

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,037,861
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice

Karen R. Baker (Nonpartisan) and Rhonda Wood (Nonpartisan) defeated Barbara Webb (Nonpartisan) and Jay Martin (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Karen R. Baker (Nonpartisan)	27.2	86,850
✔	Rhonda Wood (Nonpartisan)	26.3	84,139
	Barbara Webb (Nonpartisan)	25.9	82,735
	Jay Martin (Nonpartisan)	20.6	65,875

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 319,599
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.