List of first women lawyers and judges in Arkansas

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Arkansas. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Arkansas' history

 

Leslie Rutledge: First female elected as the Attorney General for Arkansas (2015)

Degree

• First female (master's degree in judicial studies): Cindy Thyer in 2019^[1]

Lawyers

• First female: Sarah Shields (1918)^[2]
• First African American female: Sharon E. Bernard Miller (1970)^[3]
• First Vietnamese American (female): Niki T. Cung (1996)^[4]

Law Clerk

• First (African American) female to clerk for the Arkansas Supreme Court: Joyce Williams Warren (1976) in 1977^[5][6][7]

State judges

• First female: Elsijane Trimble Roy (1939)^[8][9]
• First female (Sixth Judicial District): Elsijane Trimble Roy (1939) in 1966^[8]
• First female (Arkansas Supreme Court): Elsijane Trimble Roy (1939) from 1975-1977^[8][9]
• First African American female: Joyce Williams Warren (1976) in 1988^[5][6][7]
• First African American female (First Circuit): Kathleen Bell in 1988^[5]
• First African American female (Arkansas Supreme Court):Andree Layton Roaf (1979) circa 1995-1996^[10][11]
• First female (Chief Justice; Arkansas Supreme Court): Betty Dickey (1985) in 2004^[11][12][13]
• First female (Third Judicial Circuit): Michelle Huff in 2019^[14]

Federal judges

• First female (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas): Elsijane Trimble Roy (1939) in 1977^[8][9]

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

• First female (elected): Leslie Rutledge in 2023^[15][16]

Attorney General of Arkansas

• First female: Mary Stallcup in 1991^[15][17]
• First female (elected): Leslie Rutledge in 2015^[15][16]

Prosecuting Attorney

• First female elected: Betty Dickey in 1995^[11]

Arkansas Bar Association

• First female (president): Carolyn Witherspoon in 1995^[11]

Firsts in local history

• Betty Dickey:^[11] First female to be elected as a Prosecuting Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial District [Arkansas, Jefferson and Lincoln Counties, Arkansas; 1995]
• Carol Crews:^[18] First female Prosecuting Attorney for the Twentieth Judicial District, Arkansas [Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren Counties, Arkansas; 2018]
• Michelle Huff:^[14] First female appointed as a Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit in Arkansas (2019) [Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp Counties, Arkansas]
• Stephanie Black:^[19] First female Prosecuting Attorney for the Eighth Judicial District, Arkansas [Lafayette and Miller Counties, Arkansas; 2015]
• Georgia Kimbro Elrod:^[20] First female lawyer in Benton County, Arkansas (1974)
• Ruth LaVerne Grayson:^[21] First female county judge in Boone County, Arkansas
• Kim Bridgeforth:^[22] First female judge in Jefferson County, Arkansas
• Pauline LaFon Gore (1936):^[23][24] First female lawyer in Texarkana, Arkansas [Miller County, Arkansas]^[25]
• Cathy Hardin Harrison:^[26] First elected female county judge in Miller County, Arkansas (2019)
• Maud Crawford (1927):^[27] First female lawyer in Camden, Arkansas [Ouachita County, Arkansas]
• Joyce Williams Warren (1976):^[5][6] First African American female judge in Pulaski County, Arkansas (1988)
• Barbara Webb:^[28] First female circuit judge in Saline County, Arkansas (2017)
• Stacy Leeds:^[29] First Native American (Cherokee) female to become the Dean of the University of Arkansas Law School [Washington County, Arkansas]
• Suzanne Lighton:^[30][31] First female lawyer in Washington County, Arkansas

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

Other topics of interest

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Arkansas

References

1. Newsdesk, Region 8. "First woman in state to receive master's degree in judicial studies". KAIT8. Retrieved 2019-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. Ross, Frances Mitchell (1998). "Reforming the Bar: Women and the Arkansas Legal Profession". University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
3. II, Charles F. Robinson; Williams, Lonnie R. (2015-02-20). Remembrances in Black: Personal Perspectives of the African American Experience at the University of Arkansas, 1940s–2000s. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 9781557286758.
4. "Niki T. Cung - Arkansas Lawyers - Setting the Bar". Super Lawyers. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
5. 3 Blacks Get Judgeships in Arkansas from Governor. Johnson Publishing Company. 1989-10-09. p. 22. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. Finn, Marie T.; Irvine, Diana R.; Bliss, Mary Lee; Pratton, Gina L. (CON); Morgan, Samantha (CON) (2009). The American Bench. Forster-Long. ISBN 9780931398582.
7. "Joyce Williams Warren - Judge".
8. "Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame: Judge Elsijane Trimble Roy, Legal Trailblazer". Arkansas Business. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
9. "Elsijane Trimble Roy (1916–2007)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
10. "Andree Yvonne Layton Roaf (1941–2009) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
11. Dillard, Tom (November 8, 2015). "Women of the Bar". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
12. "Betty Dickey (1940–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
13. "New Chief Justice Sworn In" (PDF). Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts. January 2004.
14. "The Times Dispatch ~ Walking on the glass ceiling ... Huff takes the bench". www.thetd.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
15. Brantley, Max. "Another woman made history earlier in attorney general's office". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
16. "Lieutenant Governor Leslie Rutledge". Lieutenant Governor. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
17. "Interim Attorney General Steps Down in Arkansas". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
18. Hicks, Marisa. "Crews is first woman to serve as district's elected prosecutor". Log Cabin Democrat. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
19. KSLA Staff. "Carlton Jones sworn in as District Judge for Miller and Lafayette Counties". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
20. "Georgia Kimbro Elrod is First Female Lawyer in Benton County, AR". Northwest Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
21. "Obituary for Ruth LaVerne Grayson". www.rollerfuneralhomes.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
22. Briggs, Shakari. "First female firefighter promoted to first female lieutenant". Pine Bluff Commercial. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
23. "Washingtonpost.com: Gore Cultivates Women Voters". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
24. J, Clinton, William (1996-01-01). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1995. Best Books on. ISBN 9781623767990.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
25. Gore was the mother of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
26. "1st female county judge takes Miller County reins". Arkansas Online. 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
27. "Maud Robinson Crawford (1891–1957) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas". www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
28. Brantley, Max. "Hutchinson names Barbara Webb to fill vacant judgeship in Saline County". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
29. "Judge Stacy Leeds". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
30. "WORKING IN A LAW FIRM WITH HER HUSBAND". Northwest Arkansas Times. Fayetteville, Arkansas. January 27, 1974. p. 9. Retrieved 2018-02-13 – via Newspapers.com.
31. The Arkansas Lawyer. Arkansas Bar Association. 1979.