Chief Justice W.H. "Dub" Arnold The Honorable Mike Huckabee, Governor, Members of the General Assembly, Fellow Judges and Justices, and Fellow Arkansans: It is my pleasure to have the opportunity of presenting this report of the state of the Arkansas judicial system and its work during the year 2001. It includes an excellent description of the structure of our court system and documents the work of our state's judges and court employees. It also describes a large array of important projects which were undertaken to both analyze and improve our court system and its service to our state's citizens.

The year 2001 was particularly significant for the state court system because of the first steps toward the full implementation of Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution. Much work has been done. Our chancery and probate courts have been abolished and a new unified circuit court created. Each judicial circuit has developed a plan for case management and administration. A whole series of court rules has been revised and adopted. It has not, however, been without difficulty. Change, even change which is really needed, is difficult - especially for those of us in the judicial branch. Our next phase of implementation, involving our limited jurisdiction courts, may prove to be even more difficult. The next few years will require a great deal of work and cooperation by and between the courts and the executive and legislative branches, as well as between state and local governments. While our task is a large one, the potential benefits for our state and for those who work in and utilize our court system are even larger. We have an opportunity to streamline our system to make it more responsive and more efficient.

I look forward to working with the Governor and General Assembly as we further develop our overall goal of providing our citizens with the finest judicial system possible.

W.H. "Dub" Arnold
Chief Justice