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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 1998-99 fiscal year. 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.
During this year, I had the opportunity to represent our state
at the National Conference on Public Trust and Confidence in the
Court System. It included a fascinating discussion of issues which
have been demonstrated as being important to our citizens and, in
some cases, highlighted areas in which our court systems have
been ineffective or inadequate in responding to the needs of
litigants and the public. In response, I appointed a group
of outstanding Arkansans to review the work of our court system and
identify areas in which we must do a better job of meeting the
public's needs in carrying out our constitutional responsibility of
providing a fair and efficient system of resolving disputes. I look
forward to reviewing the recommendations of this group and addressing
the issues which they present.
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