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Arkansas Supreme Court justice vacancy (June 2023)
| Arkansas Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Wynne vacancy |
| Date: June 21, 2023 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Cody Hiland |
| Date: July 3, 2023 |
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Hiland replaced Justice Robin Wynne, who died on June 21, 2023. Wynne's replacement was Governor Sanders' (R) first nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
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.
If a vacancy occurs during a Justice's term, the Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appoints an interim candidate that will serve until the swearing in of an elected successor. Wynne's successor was up for election on March 5, 2024.
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Arkansas Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the special election.
- 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 2023.
Full term
A special election was held on March 5, 2024, to choose Hiland's successor following his partial term. Two candidates qualified to appear on the ballot, including Associate Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson and Circuit Judge Carlton D. Jones. Hudson Goodson won the election with 60% of the vote.
Special election
2024
See also: Arkansas Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
Special general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2
Incumbent Courtney Rae Hudson defeated Carlton D. Jones in the special general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Courtney Rae Hudson (Nonpartisan) | 60.3 | 189,087 |
 | Carlton D. Jones (Nonpartisan) | 39.7 | 124,619 | |
| Total votes: 313,706 | |||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hudson in this election.
Partial term
On July 7, 2023, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Hiland's term ended on December 31, 2024. Per the Arkansas Constitution, Hiland was ineligible to run for re-election to the seat when it appeared on the ballot in March 2024.[1]
The appointee
- See also: Cody Hiland
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 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.[3]
Makeup of the court
- See also: Arkansas Supreme Court
Justices
Following Wynne's retirement, the Arkansas Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Dan Kemp (Position 1, Chief Justice) | Elected in 2016 | |
| ■ Courtney Hudson Goodson (Position 3) | Elected in 2010 | |
| ■ Barbara Webb (Position 4) | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Shawn Womack (Position 5) | Elected in 2016 | |
| ■ Karen R. Baker (Position 6) | Elected in 2010 | |
| ■ Rhonda Wood (Position 7) | Elected in 2014 |
About the court
| Arkansas Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 7 |
| Founded: 1836 |
| Location: Little Rock |
| Salary |
| Associates: $203,625[4] |
| 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.[5]
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 Wynne
- See also: Robin Wynne
Wynne received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1975 and his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1978. Wynne then attended the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University from 1979 to 1980.[2]
Prior to his election to the Arkansas Supreme Court, Wynne was a judge of the Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 5. He was elected to that position in 2010, effective January 1, 2011.[2] From 2004 to 2010 Wynne served as a judge on the Dallas County District Court, and before that he served as the city attorney for Fordyce, Arkansas from 1989 to 2004. From 1989 to 1998 Wynne was a deputy prosecuting attorney for the 13th Judicial District. Wynne also served as a representative in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1985 to 1988.
Other state supreme court appointments in 2023
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2023
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2023. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2022.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Arkansas Governor's Office, "Governor Sanders Announces Cody Hiland as Newest Arkansas Supreme Court Justice," July 7, 2023
- ↑ 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 - ↑ Arkansas Judiciary, "Arkansas Supreme Court," accessed April 15, 2025
- ↑ 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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