In Re Appointment of Special Justice Cory Cox

Cite as 2026 Ark. 128 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS Opinion Delivered: October 1, 2026 IN RE APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL JUSTICE CORY COX TO THE ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT PER CURIAM On August 10, 2026, Chief Justice Baker informed Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders that Associate Justice Barbara Webb is temporarily unable to serve and requested that Governor Sanders appoint a special justice to serve in Justice Webb’s position and fulfill her duties for an indeterminate period as opposed to appointing a new special justice for each case before the court. On August 18, Governor Sanders appointed Cory Cox to replace Justice Webb until December 31, 2026, or upon Justice Webb’s return to the court, whichever comes first. Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-11-115 provides that [e]ach special justice of the Supreme Court who is not a retired judge or justice or an active circuit or district judge, appointed under the provisions of the Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 80, § 13, shall receive, as full compensation for services rendered, the sum of one hundred dollars ($100) for each case in the special justice’s or special judge’s commission. When the case or cases shall be decided, this amount shall be certified by the Clerk of the Supreme Court after having been approved by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. During the course of coordinating Special Justice Cox’s compensation as mandated by section 16-11-115, the court determined that this statute does not contemplate extended appointments through which a special justice must assume the duties of an associate justice full time, requiring him or her to abandon employment opportunities for an indeterminate period. Consequently, Chief Justice Baker was unable to approve Special Justice Cox’s compensation pursuant to the aforementioned statutory framework. We conclude that Special Justice Cox’s appointment is outside the scope of Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-11-115, and there is no existing mechanism through which Special Justice Cox can be adequately compensated for his full-time service. We invite the legislature to revisit the statute setting forth the compensation of a special justice in this regard and fill the gap. WOOD and WOMACK, JJ., concur. WEBB, J., and Special Justice CORY COX not participating. RHONDA K. WOOD, Justice, concurring. I concur and encourage the General Assembly to weigh in on this issue. I write separately because I am unsure where the authority lies. The majority is correct that the language of Arkansas Code Annotated section 16- 11-115 does not appear to cover this situation. But it also does not set the pay for the category that includes retired justices and judges or active circuit judges and district judges. Decades have also passed since the General Assembly set the $100.00 per case compensation, which is no longer adequate. Yet Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution amended Amendment 80, section 16(E), to provide for the Independent Citizens Commission. This Commission sets salaries for justices and judges. Ark. Const. art. 19, § 31(b)(1) & (d)(10). It is unclear whether Amendment 94 altered any prior statutory judicial salary provisions. It would be helpful for 2 the General Assembly to consider this issue, too, and determine whether it should refer the issue of special justice and judge pay to the Independent Citizens Commission. For these reasons, I concur. WOMACK, J., joins. 3