LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has named a new Supreme Court Justice for the state.
Gov. Sanders announced on Monday that Cody Hiland will serve as the newest member of the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Hiland previously worked as a prosecutor and an aid to Sanders' father, Mike Huckabee.
Additionally, Hiland has served as the Chief Legal Counsel for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety.
He also served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas from 2017 until 2020 after being nominated by then-President Donald Trump.
After leaving this role, Hiland worked alongside Sanders during her bid to become Arkansas governor.
"This is the first time [the] Arkansas Supreme Court will have a conservative majority," Gov. Sanders said after making the announcement.
Hiland's appointment comes after the unfortunate death of Associate Judge Robin Wynne, who died on June 22, 2023, at the age of 70.
"It will be impossible to fill Justice Wynne's shoes on the Supreme Court, but Cody's decades of experience, even temperament and love for our state and the rule of law bring him closer than anyone else could," said Sanders.
Hiland himself acknowledged the role he is set to fill.
"It is in many respects a solemn day and while we acknowledge the loss at the same time acknowledge that we have to engage in the sobering and serious responsibility of fulfilling the legal obligations necessary to move forward with the courts business," said Hiland.
According to the governor, Hiland will serve on the high court until 2025.
"I have been given a tremendous privilege to serve the people of this state and I am both humbled by that opportunity and sobered by the responsibility in front of me," said Hiland.
In response to the nomination, Grant Tennille with the Democratic Party of Arkansas said "Arkansans should be extremely worried about Governor Sanders abusing her power to appoint judges."
"Americans are concerned that our courts are becoming too partisan, and the Governor justifies those fears when she appoints a former campaign employee, the current Republican Party chair, to Arkansas’s highest court," Tennille said. "Hiland hasn’t served a single term as an appellate judge, a gap in his resume that any other governor would consider disqualifying. But this is just another day under Republican supermajority rule in Arkansas. In our state, judges are nonpartisan, but Governor Sanders learned how to govern in Washington, not Arkansas."
Wynne, who served on the Arkansas Supreme Court since 2015, was a Fordyce native and was recently re-elected in 2022 to serve on the state's highest court.
He served on the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was a state representative, a Dallas County district judge, and worked at Wynne & Wynne Law Firm.
It was confirmed that Wynne passed due to losing his battle with leukemia.
“Justice Wynne could have been anything – a pastor, a politician, a businessman – and chose instead to devote his life to Arkansans and the law. For that, we are all eternally grateful. Our deepest condolences are with his family and all those who knew him,” Gov. Sanders said about Justice Wynne.