Courts in Arkansas

In Arkansas, there are two federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Arkansas' state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Arkansas' state court system.

Judicial selection process

Selection of the state court judges in Arkansas occurs through the nonpartisan election of judges. While the appellate and general jurisdiction courts have varying policies on judge qualifications, chief justice selection and term length, they share common regulations on re-election and the filling of interim vacancies. Likewise, the limited jurisdiction courts function largely the same across the board, differing primarily in judge qualifications.^[1][2]

Across the state's appellate and trial courts, there are seven supreme court justices, 12 court of appeals judges, and 126 circuit court judges.^[3]

Judges of the Arkansas Supreme Court and Arkansas Court of Appeals serve eight-year terms. Circuit court judges serve six-year terms. Both state and local district court judges serve four-year terms.^[4]

Federal courts

The federal district courts in Arkansas are the:

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

Appeals from these districts go to the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Active Judges

Eastern District

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 3
• Republican appointed: 2

Western District

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 2
• Republican appointed: 0

District map

Judicial selection

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, click here.

Bankruptcy courts

There are two federal bankruptcy courts in Arkansas. These courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy courts in Arkansas are:

• United States bankruptcy court, Eastern District of Arkansas
• United States bankruptcy court, Western District of Arkansas

State supreme court

See also: Arkansas Supreme Court

Article 7, Section 4 of the Arkansas Constitution describes the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. (This was later amended by Amendment 80, Section 2.) The Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort, meaning that it hears cases that have been tried and appealed from the lower courts. The court also plays a supervisory role over the other courts in the state, as well as the conduct of attorneys and the practice of law in the state.

The table below lists the current judges of the Arkansas Supreme Court and how they were selected.

State court of appeals

See also: Arkansas Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the state. Opinions decided by this court may be appealed to the Supreme Court. There is, however, no right to appeal decisions made by this court. The Supreme Court must agree to hear the appeal.

The following judges sit on the court:

Trial courts

Arkansas Circuit Courts

See also: Arkansas Circuit Courts

The circuit courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. Circuit judges are elected to six-year terms.

The map below shows each of those circuits by county.

Arkansas Circuit Courts

Arkansas District Courts

See also: Arkansas District Courts

The district courts have limited jurisdiction in Arkansas.

Arkansas City Courts

See also: Arkansas City Courts

The Arkansas City Courts are trial courts of original jurisdiction over city ordinance violations. There are 73 city court judges in 89 locations in Arkansas.^[5]

Non-judicial courts

The Arkansas County Courts are not judicial bodies, but instead act as an executive branch of government. They are presided over by a county judge who is the county executive.

In other states

See also

• Judicial selection in Arkansas
• Arkansas judicial elections

External links

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Footnotes

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