Letter Accompanying Annual Report
Arkansas Supreme Court
Transmission of
1994-95 Annual Report of the Arkansas Judiciary
The Honorable Jim Guy Tucker, Governor,
Members of the General Assembly,
Fellow Judges and Justices, and
Fellow Arkansans:
I am pleased to present this overview and report of the state of
the Arkansas court system and its work during the 1994-95 fiscal year.
As a long-time legal practitioner suddenly thrust into the role of Chief
Justice, I have been impressed with both the quality and quantity of
work which is being accomplished by judges and court employees in our
state. I have also been pleased to find that a good working
relationship exists between the judiciary and our executive and
legislative branches, as well as within the judicial branch itself.
Arkansans continue to bring their disputes to be resolved in our
state courts in record numbers. During the year, more than one million
cases were filed. With limited resources, our judges used a combination
of innovative programs and old fashioned hard work in an attempt to keep
up with the increased caseload.
The theme of this annual report challenges us to look ahead a few
short years as we approach a new millennium. What must our judicial
system do to prepare for and respond to the rapid pace of social and
technological change in our society? Somehow we judges and lawyers are
the last to realize that the world is changing and we seem to utilize a
lot of time and energy trying to fight it. Perhaps it is because our
profession requires that we look to the past to find answers to the
disputes before us. Strength can result from such a practice if we are
prepared to look critically at our past in order to plan for the future.
This may cause us to call into question some past actions or decisions
or require us to change our routine. In some cases, the change will not
come without considerable cost. Even so, our citizens have a right to
expect that an independent judiciary will be available and capable of
providing fair and just decisions and do so with relative dispatch. It
is my hope that this report will provide the impetus for such an
analysis and set forth our vision for the future as we work together to
provide our citizens with the finest judicial system possible.
Bradley D. Jesson
Chief Justice
Return to Annual Report Table of Contents Page
Last updated on February 6, 1996.
Tim Holthoff, Jackie Wright (arsclib@arkansas.gov)