The Arkansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

for the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Arkansas 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 O ...

. It was created in 1978 by Amendment 58 of the

Arkansas Constitution The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional con ...

, which was implemented by Act 208 of the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 10 ...

in 1979. The court handed down its first opinions for publication on August 8, 1979.

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Arkansas Court of Appeals is determined by the

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 ...

. There is no right of appeal from the Arkansas Court of Appeals to the Arkansas Supreme Court. However, opinions decided by the court may be reviewed by the Arkansas Supreme Court under three circumstances: on application by a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

to the appeal, upon certification of the Arkansas Court of Appeals, or if the Arkansas Supreme Court decides the case is one that should have originally been assigned to it.

Opinions

The Arkansas Court of Appeals issues a large number of opinions, but does not publish all of them. Instead, only those opinions that "resolve novel or unusual questions" are released for publication by the state's Reporter of Decisions.

Judges

Originally, there were six judges on the court, this number was expanded by

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

to nine and then twelve. The first judges of the court were appointed by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

, during his first term as

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. The judges are now elected in staggered terms of eight years in a statewide, non-partisan election. The state of Arkansas is divided into seven districts for the election of judges to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, under Act 1812 of 2003. The qualifications for sitting on the Arkansas Court of Appeals are the same as for the Arkansas Supreme Court. As of the judges currently on the court are: * Chief Judge Rita W. Gruber, District 6, Position 1 * Judge Raymond R. Abramson, District 1, Position 1 * Judge Phillip Whiteaker, District 1, Position 2 * Judge Bart Virden, District 2, Position 1 * Judge Mike Murphy, District 2, Position 2 * Judge Robert J. Gladwin, District 3, Position 1 * Judge Kenneth Hixson, District 3, Position 2 * Judge Brandon Harrison, District 4, Position 1 * Judge Meredith Switzer, District 4, Position 1 * Judge Mark Klappenbach, District 5 * Judge Larry D. Vaught, District 6, Position 2 * Judge Waymond M. Brown, District 7

References

External links

Homepage of the Arkansas Court of Appeals

Diagram of the structure of the Arkansas Court System
{{Authority control

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

Courts and tribunals established in 1979 State appellate courts of the United States 1979 establishments in Arkansas

Jurisdiction

Opinions

Judges

See also

References

External links