Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice John Dan Kemp retired at the end of December, ending an eight-year term in the state’s highest judicial office and a career spanning nearly five decades.
In fact, after 47 years and 5 months, he is believed to be the second longest serving judge in Arkansas. (Thomas Butt served as a chancery judge in Washington County for just over 49 years.)
For 10 years as a Mountain View municipal judge, followed by 30 years as circuit judge in the 16th Judicial District, Kemp was a steadfast presence in Stone County courts.
Known for his calm and steady demeanor, Kemp brought this same temperament to his leadership of the state’s highest court, which he guided through unforeseen challenges that included the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For a couple of years before I was elected as chief, there was some turmoil on the court that became public,” Kemp said. “My intention was to make sure that the only news coming out of the Supreme Court was based on the cases that we decided and not on any commotion on the court. I believe that I was successful in achieving this goal during my term as chief justice.”
Kemp recalled a couple of challenges he had to navigate during his term. The first was just after he took office in 2017, when the governor announced the scheduling of eight executions. Kemp knew the court needed to be prepared for a slew of last-minute motions in these cases, so he researched how the United States Supreme Court handles execution cases.
“We established a similar procedure to address the motions we anticipated receiving in these eight cases. During a three-week period surrounding these execution dates, there were a total of 44 motions filed in these eight cases that we ruled on,” Kemp recalled.
The court addressed the motions in a timely manner, resulting in four executions being carried out and the other four being stayed for various reasons.
The second big challenge was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing keeping the courts open with the need to maintain health and safety of court personnel, litigants, witnesses, and attorneys, as well as the public.
When Kemp first took office, he said he read the “Continuity of Operation Plan” so he could be prepared in the event he needed to keep the courts in operation during a catastrophe. These included tornadoes, floods, fires, and pandemic.
He thought a pandemic highly unlikely, he said, but little did he know they would face that very situation three years later.
“We first thought that the virus would run its course in a matter of weeks, but as we all came to learn, it lasted for approximately a year and a half,” Kemp said. “The courts in Arkansas were kept open, and we began to use Zoom technology to conduct court proceedings virtually without everyone being in the courtroom at the same time. We had to suspend jury trials for a period of time to comply with the health regulations that were imposed on gatherings of 10 or more people.”
Kemp said the pandemic caused some delays in cases being processed and backlogs in some areas of the state, but over a period of a couple of years the courts around the state worked through the great majority of the backlogs.
“I am proud of the good work that the judges of the state did in keeping the courts open and taking care of the backlogs,” he said.
A more positive highlight of his term was being able to bring the Appeals on Wheels program to his hometown of Mountain View during his final year in office.
Read the full story in the Jan. 29 issue.
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