"The passage of Amendment 80 on November 7, 2000 was a watershed event in the history of the Judicial Department of this state. Jurisdictional lines that previously forced cases to be divided artificially and litigated separately in different courts have been eliminated. This fundamental change brings with it a whole host of issues, both theoretical and practical, concerning the form and structure of our court system." In re Implementation of Amendment 80, 345 Ark Adv. app. (June 28, 2001).

Comprehensive constitutional change for the Arkansas court system had been attempted for more than thirty years when it finally proved successful in the 2000 election year. Despite such a long time to prepare, the actual implementation of many of the changes in 2001 turned out to be quite difficult. While Amendment 80 brought changes in a number of areas, three major issues proved to be most important: trial court unification, judicial selection, and limited jurisdiction court unification.

Trial Court Unification
Arkansas remained one of four states with separate courts of law and equity prior to Amendment 80. The first major impact of the constitutional change was the abolition of the state's chancery and probate courts on July 1, 2001. All of the jurisdiction which had been placed in these courts was merged into the circuit courts as of that date. In addition, all judges who had been elected and were serving as chancery or circuit/chancery judges became circuit judges.

A whole host of practical issues had to be addressed as a result of this structural change, ranging from the adoption of new rules of court procedure to the printing of new forms and stationary. Some of the most troubling issues related to the issues of case assignment and case management.
Judges in each judicial district were required, under new rules of the Supreme Court, to adopt an administrative plan for the district which set out the method by which all cases filed in the district would be assigned and the administrative matters of the district would be decided.

Committee on the Implementation of Amendment 80 meeting.

The Supreme Court also designated five divisions for the new circuit court which required a new system for the numbering of all cases and new cover sheets, docket books, and other case-related forms and publications.
The role of the circuit and county clerks also had to be addressed since the county clerk had served as clerk of the probate court, which was abolished. Under legislation adopted by the General Assembly, the county clerk continued to perform this court function, but as the ex officio circuit clerk for the probate division.

Judicial Selection
Prior to Amendment 80, Arkansas was one of eight states which utilized partisan election for the selection of its appellate judges and one of eleven states which used the method to choose trial judges. The choice of non-partisan election as the new method was a somewhat contentious one. For several years the bar association preferred a merit selection system and in earlier revisions of constitutional reform this was the method proposed. Arkansas political parties were opposed to any change in the selection method, in part, because of the revenue generated for the party from filing fees paid by the judicial candidates. To some degree, non-partisan election became a compromise position.

In implementing the new selection method, the 2001 General Assembly enacted the new election law to set out the process for the non-partisan election. The main issue in dispute related to the timing of the election, with some arguing that it be held in conjunction with the partisan election and others preferring that it be a completely separate election. In the end, the legislature aligned the state with the majority of other states using non-partisan election and placed the judicial ballot on a separate portion of the party ballot. Any runoff election required is held at the time of the general election.

The Supreme Court also adopted changes in the Code of Judicial Conduct to limit certain political party activity which had been authorized previously and to make the Code consistent with other provision of the new selection method.

Amendment 80 brought non-partisan judicial elections.

Limited Jurisdiction Court Unification
Prior to Amendment 80 Arkansas had six courts of limited jurisdiction - municipal, city, police, common pleas, county, and justice of the peace. The courts had both conflicting and overlapping geographical and subject matter jurisdiction. Amendment 80 set an implementation date of 2005 to combine these courts into a unified district court. The General Assembly is also given the option to continue the city court. In 2001 the General Assembly eliminated the courts of common pleas and changed the name of the municipal court to district court. The Supreme Court assigned to its Committee on the Implementation of Amendment 80 the task of reviewing the other issues raised by the Amendment in order to prepare recommendations to the Court and to the 2003 General Assembly.