Ark. Const. art. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS OF 1874 § Amend. 80 Qualifications of Justices and Judges

• Library: Constitution of the State of Arkansas
• Edition: 2020
• Currency: Current through the November 2020 General Election
• Year: 2020
• Citation: Ark. Const. art. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS OF 1874 § Amend. 80

� 1. Judicial power.

The judicial power is vested in the Judicial Department of state government, consisting of a Supreme Court and other courts established by this Constitution.

� 2. Supreme Court.

(A) The Supreme Court shall be composed of seven Justices, one of whom shall serve as Chief Justice. The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be selected from the State at large.

(B) The Chief Justice shall be selected for that position in the same manner as the other Justices are selected. During any temporary period of absence or incapacity of the Chief Justice, an acting Chief Justice shall be selected by the Court from among the remaining justices.

(C) The concurrence of at least four justices shall be required for a decision in all cases.

(D) The Supreme Court shall have:

(1) Statewide appellate jurisdiction;

(2) Original jurisdiction to issue writs of quo warranto to all persons holding judicial office, and to officers of political corporations when the question involved is the legal existence of such corporations;

(3) Original jurisdiction to answer questions of state law certified by a court of the United States, which may be exercised pursuant to Supreme Court rule;

(4) Original jurisdiction to determine sufficiency of state initiative and referendum petitions and proposed constitutional amendments; and

(5) Only such other original jurisdiction as provided by this Constitution.

(E) The Supreme Court shall have power to issue and determine any and all writs necessary in aid of its jurisdiction and to delegate to its several justices the power to issue such writs.

(F) The Supreme Court shall appoint its clerk and reporter.

(G) The sessions of the Supreme Court shall be held at such times and places as may be adopted by Supreme Court rule.

� 3. Rules of pleading, practice and procedure.

The Supreme Court shall prescribe the rules of pleading, practice and procedure for all courts; provided these rules shall not abridge, enlarge or modify any substantive right and shall preserve the right of trial by jury as declared in this Constitution.

� 4. Superintending control.

The Supreme Court shall exercise general superintending control over all courts of the state and may temporarily assign judges, with their consent, to courts or divisions other than that for which they were elected or appointed. These functions shall be administered by the Chief Justice.

� 5. Court of Appeals.

There shall be a Court of Appeals which may have divisions thereof as established by Supreme Court rule. The Court of Appeals shall have such appellate jurisdiction as the Supreme Court shall by rule determine and shall be subject to the general superintending control of the Supreme Court. Judges of the Court of Appeals shall have the same qualifications as Justices of the Supreme Court.

� 6. Circuit courts.

(A) Circuit Courts are established as the trial courts of original jurisdiction of all justiciable matters not otherwise assigned pursuant to this Constitution.

(B) Subject to the superintending control of the Supreme Court, the Judges of a Circuit Court may divide that Circuit Court into subject matter divisions, and any Circuit Judge within the Circuit may sit in any division.

(C) Circuit Judges may temporarily exchange circuits by joint order. Any Circuit Judge who consents may be assigned to another circuit for temporary service under rules adopted by the Supreme Court.

(D) The Circuit Courts shall hold their sessions in each county at such times and places as are, or may be, prescribed by law.