Arkansas Supreme Court (Courtesy Photo)
The Arkansas Judicial Council, which represents the state’s court system, issued a resolution Friday morning recognizing the service and dedication of 10 judiciary employees that the state Supreme Court’s chief justice attempted to fire last week.
The 10 employees:
- Marty Sullivan, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts
- Pete Hollingsworth, director of Emergency Preparedness and Chief of the Supreme Court Police
- Brooke Steen, Juvenile Justice Division director
- Jennifer Taylor, director of Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs and director of Judicial Education
- Sam Kauffman, director of Finance and Administration
- Kristin Clark, Legal Services Division director
- Tim Holthoff, Court Information Systems Division director
- Cecil Davis, Court Information Systems Division Deputy director
- Ben Barham, District Court staff attorney
- Ashley Figueroa, administrator of the Commission of Children, Youth, and Families
“We are confident that these experienced and talented public servants will continue to serve our state well and we look forward to working with them in the future,” the Judicial Council wrote in a mass email to judiciary employees, obtained by the Advocate via a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Judicial Council is composed of all of the state’s circuit court judges, appellate court judges, Supreme Court justices, retired judges who have held those positions and the AOC director, according to its website. The council conducts business twice a year during spring and fall meetings. Friday’s resolution came from a special-call meeting.
Chief Justice Karen Baker drafted termination letters for the 10 employees and attempted to make their firings official Jan. 3, according to an administrative order issued that day by five other justices who declared the dismissals null and void. The justices wrote that Baker did not consult with her colleagues in advance and did not state specific reasons for the attempted firings when asked.
“When asked about those employees’ families and the fact that they were scared and fearful, the Chief Justice responded by saying that it was ‘good’ for those employees to be scared,” wrote Associate Justices Rhonda Wood, Barbara Webb, Shawn Womack, Cody Hiland and Nicholas Bronni.
The chief justice cannot fire some judiciary employees without the court’s approval, the majority said, citing the portion of state law that says the AOC director serves “at the pleasure of the Supreme Court.”
The same five justices issued a second order Monday saying Baker could not unilaterally appoint three judges to the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which she attempted to do within half an hour of being sworn in Jan. 1 as the state’s first elected female chief justice.
Baker fired back Wednesday in an opinion declaring the majority’s two orders invalid and asserting that state law and the Arkansas Constitution both give her the authority to act as she did.
Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice rejects colleagues’ orders, citing constitutional authority
She also declared invalid an employment agreement that five justices — including her predecessor John Dan Kemp — made with the AOC Director in December, guaranteeing Sullivan job security until the end of 2032. State law gives the chief justice the authority to nominate the AOC director, Baker said, adding that she will nominate her own choice for the position.
The same five associate justices said in a statement Wednesday that Baker’s order “has no legal effect beyond that of a dissenting opinion.”
Associate Justice Courtney Hudson did not participate in Sullivan’s employment contract, in either of the court’s orders rebuking Baker or in the response to Baker’s Wednesday opinion.
On Dec. 4, Chief Justice-elect Baker entered Sullivan’s office while he was not present. Hudson was present outside the office, but it was not clear whether she entered. Arkansas Business reported on the matter Dec. 11, citing video footage of Baker and Hudson, received via the Freedom of Information Act.
Talk Business & Politics reported Dec. 17 that Baker told Hollingsworth, the court’s police chief, she did not want the video footage of her entering Sullivan’s office “going around.”
The court’s majority claimed last week that Baker’s attempt to fire AOC employees, including Sullivan and Hollingsworth, was “retaliatory.”
Sullivan defended his employees in a Jan. 3 letter to Baker criticizing her effort to fire them.
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