Arkansas’s state Supreme Court will see a conservative majority if its newest nominee is confirmed, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) announced on Monday.
Sanders announced her nomination of former state prosecutor and Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Cody Hiland to fill a vacant role on the state’s highest court. Hiland would take Justice Robin Wynne’s seat if confirmed after Wynne died last month at the age of 70.
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“I am pleased to announce that I have selected another former prosecutor and a U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland for this role,” Sanders said in a statement on Monday. “Cody comes from the same mold as some of the finest jurors we have in the country today. The same legal minds who are finally bringing back strict originalism to our courts. This is the first time Arkansas Supreme Court will have a conservative majority. And I know it will have the same effect on our state as it has had on our country.”
Sanders touted Hiland’s background as a government attorney, as an aide to former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee (R-AR), and his tenure as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, among his successes. Hiland was nominated to serve as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas by former President Donald Trump.
“Cody brings a lifetime of legal experience to the job,” Sanders said. “From his early days as a staff attorney in state government and an aide to my dad, who was also here today. He made service to Arkansas the centerpiece of his career.”
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If Hiland is confirmed by the Republican-dominated state legislature, all three branches of the state government would be led by conservatives. Hiland’s appointment could also help Sanders pass her legislative agenda, which includes a bill to require transgender students to use a bathroom at public schools that align with the gender they were assigned at birth.
Arkansas was considered a Democratic state until 1964, but has been considered a Republican stronghold since the 1990s.
