Arkansas
Arkansas’s highest court is the Arkansas Supreme Court. The court has six associate justices and one chief justice. Chief justices serve eight-year terms and are selected by popular vote. (Source: Arkansas Supreme Court; Arkansas Constitution)
Judicial Selection
Justices run for an eight-year term on the Arkansas Supreme Court in nonpartisan elections, and they can seek additional terms through nonpartisan elections. When a seat opens in the middle of a justice’s term, the governor chooses a candidate to fill the seat. If the open seat would have been filled in the regular course at Arkansas’s next general election had no vacancy occurred, the appointed justice serves the remainder of the unexpired term. However, if the open seat would not have been filled in the regular course at the next general election, the appointed justice holds office until the next general election if the vacancy occurs more than four months prior to the election or the second succeeding general election if the vacancy occurs less than four months before the election. There are no term limits, but justices lose their retirement benefits if elected or appointed to judicial office after age 70.
State Constitution
Arkansas has had five constitutions adopted between 1836 and 1874. As of January 1, 2024, it had 110 amendments.(Source: John Dinan, 2024)
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What Does Popular Sovereignty Really Mean?
Two new essays unpack recent state supreme court cases about the relationship between direct democracy and the power of state legislatures.
State Courts Determine Whether Abortion Rights Amendments Will Go Before Voters
Cases in multiple states demonstrate the significant roles state judges play in the direct democracy process.
Scholarship Roundup: September 2024 Back to School Edition
New articles and books cover a wide range of topics related to state constitutions, judiciaries, state-level democracy, and more.
Where Abortion Rights Will Be on the Ballot in 2024
Ten states will have abortion-related measures on the November ballot; most would amend their state constitutions to either affirm or expand protection for abortion care.
States Grapple with Problematic Rule from Federal Voting Cases
The Purcell principle, which holds that federal courts should not change voting rules too close to an election, is increasingly being raised in state litigation.
Advice for Law Students From State Supreme Court Justices
As the school year kicks off, eight justices reflect on what they wish someone had told them when they were in law school.
Knife Laws on the Chopping Block
Massachusetts’s highest court confronts the nuances of federalism in a Second Amendment challenge to the state’s switchblade ban.
An Eventful Summer for State Constitutional Abortion Rights Litigation
State supreme courts addressed abortion rights head on, even as the U.S. Supreme Court punted on similar questions.