Elana Cunningham Wills (born c. 1962) is an

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

justice. Appointed in September 2008, she will serve on the Court until the end of December 2010. She was previously the state's Deputy Attorney General for Opinions.

Early life

Wills was raised in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the f ...

Education

Wills earned a bachelor's degree in business from

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

and a law degree from the

University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M) programs and is home to ...

Career

Wills has been in the Opinions Division of the

Arkansas Attorney General The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate. Since January 13 ...

's Office since 1988. Most recently, she had been the state's Deputy Attorney General for Opinions. On September 2, 2008, she was appointed by Arkansas Governor

Mike Beebe Mickey Dale Beebe ( ; born December 28, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Amagon, Arkansas, Beebe is a graduate of Arkansa ...

to fill a judgeship on the

following the retirement of Justice Tom Glaze. She was sworn into the office on October 1, 2008 and the term will expire on December 31, 2010. Among other cases she will address is what is probably the final proceeding in the Arkansas State Court system for the

West Memphis Three The West Memphis Three are three men convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, United States. Damien Echols was capital punishment, sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley Jr. to life imprisonme ...

Personal life

Wills married Jay Wills, an attorney, in the early 1990s. They have one daughter, Grace.

Awards

*Freedom of Information Award, Arkansas Press Association

References

External links

Arkansas Supreme Court
1960s births Living people American women judges Arkansas lawyers Arkansas State University alumni Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court People from Jonesboro, Arkansas University of Arkansas alumni Year of birth uncertain 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges {{Arkansas-state-judge-stub