The Arkansas Justice Building on the state Capitol grounds in LIttle Rock on Jan. 14, 2025. The building houses the state Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Administrative Office of the Courts. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Karen Baker has been asked by the state court system’s chief administrator to stay out of his office and not communicate with his staff, pending a disciplinary review.
In an email to Baker on Monday, Administrative Office of the Courts Director Marty Sullivan advised Baker that an investigation of her conduct in December by the office’s personnel department had been completed and a report forwarded to the state’s judicial discipline commission.
“Per the recommendation of the report, I believe it is more than reasonable that you do not enter AOC offices or engage in direct contact or communication with AOC staff until the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission provides further instruction,” Sullivan’s email says.
Baker became the first woman to be elected chief justice by defeating fellow high court justice Rhonda Wood in November’s election. She took the oath of office on Jan. 1.
The Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission investigates complaints about the behavior of judges and can take disciplinary action or recommend to the Supreme Court that it discipline judges who violate the Code of Judicial Conduct. The commission may direct a judge to get professional counseling or issue a public admonishment, reprimand or censure. It can also recommend the Supreme Court take stronger measures, such as suspension, removal or involuntary retirement.
Sullivan’s email doesn’t give details of the HR investigation, but a separate email to the other justices says it examined Baker’s “conduct toward AOC employees on December 4-5, 2024.” The email adds that individuals “found to have violated the [AOC’s] anti-harassment policy may appeal.”
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The court’s human resources investigation into Baker followed a Dec. 4 visit by the then chief justice-elect, and two guests to the new expansion of the Justice Building housing AOC personnel. The visit prompted a complaint to Supreme Court Police by court employees, Arkansas Business first reported on Dec. 11.
The publication quoted unnamed sources saying that Baker entered Sullivan’s office while he wasn’t there and left it “disheveled.” Baker denied leaving the office in disarray and didn’t recall entering the office beyond standing in the doorway. A surveillance video screen grab of Baker, Associate Justice Courtney Hudson and Commerce Department Chief of Staff Allison Hatfield walking in the building’s hallway accompanied the Arkansas Business story.
The visit prompted the rest of the justices to issue new rules on Dec. 5 prohibiting justices from entering the locked offices of anyone other than their staff without permission.
Talk Business & Politics reported on Dec. 11 that Baker called court police Chief Pete Hollingsworth after she received a call from an Arkansas Business reporter asking about video of her entering Sullivan’s office.
In an email she left for Hollingsworth, the chief justice-elect said: “There better not be any footage going around.”
On Dec. 12, she filed her own Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request for the video and other communications regarding it.
The pending judicial disciplinary review of Baker’s actions in early December is the latest wrinkle in a rocky start to her tenure as chief justice.
The new chief justice tried to fire Sullivan, Hollingsworth and eight other AOC employees on her second day in office. The move prompted five other justices to issue an opinion Jan. 3 saying she didn’t have authority to do so, objecting to not being consulted and reinstating the employees. The opinion described Baker’s firing attempts as “retaliatory.”
In a Jan. 6 opinion, the court majority also said Baker did not have the authority to unilaterally appoint three judges to the nine-member Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, a step she took within half an hour of taking her oath.
On Jan. 8, Baker fired back with her own opinion rejecting the validity of the majority’s two orders and citing her constitutional authority for her actions. The five justices who signed the other orders said the chief justice’s order is only a dissenting opinion and carries no legal effect.
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