# United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas Arkansas is the federal bankruptcy court in Arkansas; it is the only bankruptcy court in the nation spanning two Districts. It is associated with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The court’s main office is based in Little Rock with a divisional office in Fayetteville.

## Jurisdiction

The Eastern District of Arkansas is divided into five divisions:
| Eastern Division | Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis, Woodruff |
| Jonesboro Division | Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph |
| Northern Division | Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Sharp, Stone |
| Pine Bluff Division | Arkansas, Chicot, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln |
| Western Division | Conway, Faulkner, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White, Yell |
The Western District of Arkansas is divided into six divisions:
| El Dorado Division | Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, Union |
| Fayetteville Division | Benton, Madison, Washington |
| Fort Smith Division | Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Sebastian, Scott |
| Harrison Division | Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton, Searcy |
| Hot Springs Division | Clark, Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, Pike |
| Texarkana Division | Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, Sevier |

## Judges

| Judge | Appointed |
| Richard D. Taylor | 2003 |
| Phyllis M. Jones | 2015 |
| Bianca M. Rucker | 2021 |

### Former Judges/Referees

| Name | Title | Service Dates |
| Patrick Callan Dooley | Referee | 1898 – 1903 |
| Marshall L. Stephenson | Referee | 1898 – 1911 |
| Joseph M. Hill | Referee | 1898 – 1899 |
| W. G. Phillips | Special Referee | 1898 – 1911 |
| Ambrose H. Sevier, Jr. | Referee | 1898 – 1908 |
| Edward B. Pierce | Referee | 1899 – 1900 |
| W. A. Falcmer | Referee | 1900 |
| E. L. Marlboro | Referee | 1900 |
| Laban H. Southmayd | Referee | 1900 – 1919 |
| Ebin W. Kimball | Special Referee | 1902 – 1903 |
| F. M. Garvin | Referee | 1903 – 1919 |
| Charles C. Waters | Referee | 1903 – 1927 |
| Joseph L. Shaw | Special Referee | 1904 |
| C. B. Moore | Referee | 1908 – 1911 |
| Charles F. Cole | Referee | 1908 – 1922 |
| Jesse Vinyard | Referee | 1909 |
| Samuel B. Woods, Jr. | Referee | 1910 |
| Leo J. Mundt | Referee | 1911 |
| John F. Simms | Referee | 1911 – 1912 |
| R. B. (George) Campbell | Referee | 1911 – 1922 |
| E. Foster Brown | Referee | 1911 – 1925 |
| Gustavos G. Pope | Referee | 1913 – 1933 |
| Daniel Hon | Referee | 1919 – 1929 |
| James W. Slover | Referee | 1920 – 1928 |
| John Bruce Cox | Referee | 1921 – 1931 |
| Ira J. Mack | Referee | 1922 |
| E. C. Horner | Referee | 1922 – 1940 |
| Powell Clayton | Referee | 1923 – 1929 |
| W. A. Carlton | Referee | 1924 – 1928 |
| Fred C. Mullinix | Referee | 1926 – 1953 |
| Andrew L. Kenney | Referee | 1928 – 1931 |
| A. A. McDonald | Referee | 1929 – 1936 |
| Joseph Hiram Schneider | Referee | 1929 – 1938 |
| Ben Henley | Referee | 1931–1934, 1938–1943 |
| R. D. Bogard | Referee | 1933 |
| Willis B. Smith | Referee | 1933 |
| L. B. Poindexter | Referee | 1933 – 1936 |
| Oscar E. Ellis | Referee | 1935 |
| Tom Hutson | Referee | 1935 |
| O. E. Jones | Referee | 1935 |
| Joe H. Snider | Referee | 1935 |
| S. W. Woods | Referee | 1935 – 1937 |
| J. O. Lynn | Referee | 1936 |
| John Joseph McCaleb | Referee | 1936 – 1942 |
| George O. Patterson | Referee | 1936 – 1951 |
| William Lee Cazort | Referee | 1937 – 1961 |
| B. Thomas Harper | Referee | 1938 – 1942 |
| Alex G. Sanderson | Referee | 1940 |
| Suzanne Lighten | Referee | 1941 |
| G. Byron Dobbs | Referee | 1942 |
| J. Smith Henley | Referee | 1944 – 1945 |
| John Brizzola | Referee | 1945 – 1946 |
| W. D. Murphy | Referee | 1945 – 1947 |
| Cad L. Polk, Jr. | Referee | 1946 – 1947 |
| Edgar Bethel | Referee | 1947 – 1954 |
| Arnold M. Adams | Referee/Judge | 1962 – 1982 |
| Charles W. Baker | Referee/Judge | 1973 – 1984 |
| Robert F. Fussell | Judge | 1983 – 2003 |
| James G. Mixon | Judge | 1984 – 2014 |
| Mary Davies Scott | Judge | 1987 – 2002 |
| Audrey R. Evans | Judge | 2002 – 2015 |
| Ben T. Barry | Judge | 2007 – 2021 |

## Clerks of Court

| Name | Service |
| Peggy A. Carroll | 1979 – 1999 |
| Bill Blevins | 1999 – 2001 |
| Jean Rolfs | 2002– 2019 |
| Linda McCormack | 2019–present |

## History

The Bankruptcy Act of 1898 (Act of July 1, 1898, ch. 541, 30 Stat. 544) was the first permanent bankruptcy law and remained in effect until the passage of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–598, 92 Stat. 2549, November 6, 1978). The 1898 Act created "courts of bankruptcy" defined as the district courts of the United States. The 1898 Act also created the office of referee. The referee was appointed for two-year terms by the District Court. The 1978 Act established United States bankruptcy courts in each federal judicial district with their own clerks and other staff. The first bankruptcy clerk's office was located at the Richard Sheppard Arnold United States Post Office and Courthouse, 600 W. Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1993, a staffed divisional office was opened in the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In 1997, the bankruptcy court moved to its current location in the newly renovated Old Post Office and Courthouse (aka Old Post Office and Customs House or the Old Federal Building) located at 300 W. 2nd Street in Little Rock.

### District/Divisional History

| Date | Statute | Change | Map |
| June 15, 1836 | 5 Stat. 50 | Creates the State of Arkansas and the "Arkansas District" | Arkansas District - 1836 |
| June 17, 1844 | 5 Stat. 680 | Arkansas District is given authority over "Indian Territory" | Arkansas District - 1844 |
| March 3, 1851 | 9 Stat. 594 | Arkansas is divided into two districts: Western District consisting of Benton, Washington, Crawford, Scott, Polk, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Carroll, and "Indian country." Eastern District consisting of "the residue of said State." | Arkansas districts - 1851 |
| March 27, 1854 | 10 Stat. 269 | Sevier and Sebastian counties added to the Western Judicial District. | Arkansas districts - 1854 |
| March 3, 1871 | 16 Stat. 471 | The counties of Phillips, Crittenden, Mississippi, Craighead, Greene, Randolph, Lawrence, Sharp, Poinsett, Cross, Saint Francis, Monroe, Woodruff, Jackson, Independence, Izzard, Marion, Fulton, and Boone were moved to the Western District of Arkansas. | Arkansas districts - 1871 |
| January 31, 1877 | 19 Stat. 230 | State re-divided. Western District to include the counties of Benton, Washington, Crawford, Sebastian, Scott, Polk, Sevier, Little River, Howard, Montgomery, Yell, Logan, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Newton, Carroll, Boone, Marion and Indian Territory. Eastern the residue. | Arkansas districts - 1877 |
| January 6, 1883 | 22 Stat. 400 | Indian Territory divided up between other district courts. | Arkansas districts - 1883 |
| June 19, 1886 | 24 Stat. 83 | Moving counties Howard, Little River, and Sevier moved to the Eastern District. | Arkansas districts - 1886 |
| February 17, 1887 | 24 Stat. 406 | Eastern District divided into two divisions: Eastern and Western Divisions. The Eastern Division shall consist of Mississippi, Crittenden, Lee, Phillips, Clay, Craighead, Poinsett, Greene, Cross, Saint Francis, and Monroe. Western Division the remaining counties. | Arkansas districts - Feb 17,1887 |
| February 28, 1887 | 24 Stat. 428 | Creation of Texarkana Division within Eastern District. Counties: Columbia, Howard, Hempstead, La Fayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, and Sevier. | Arkansas districts - Feb 28, 1887 |
| March 1, 1889 | 25 Stat. 783 | Removed Indian Territory from the Western District. | Arkansas districts - 1889 |
| February 9, 1892 | 27 Stat. 3 | An act to move Montgomery county to the Eastern District, Western Division. | Arkansas districts - 1892 |
| February 20, 1897 | 29 Stat. 590 | Reorganizing Districts: Western District includes Benton, Washington, Carroll, Boone, Madison, Newton, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian, Scott, Yell, Polk, Sevier, Howard, Pike, Little River, Hempstead, Miller, Lafayette, Nevada, Columbia, Union, Ouachita, and Calhoun. The Eastern District shall include the residue of state. The Northern Division is created and gets the following counties: Independence, Cleburne, Stone, Izard, Baxter, Searcy, Marion, Sharp, Fulton, Randolph, Lawrence, and Jackson. Eastern Division: Mississippi, Crittenden, Lee, Phillips, Clay, Craighead, Poinsett, Greene, Cross, St. Francis, and Monroe. The remaining counties will be the Western Division. The Western District is hereby divided into two divisions: Texarkana and Fort Smith Divisions. Texarkana Division shall include: Sevier, Howard, Pike, Little River, Hempstead, Miller, LaFayette, Columbia, Nevada, Ouachita, Calhoun, and Union. The remaining counties in the Western District shall be the Fort Smith Division. | Arkansas districts - 1897 |
| March 18, 1902 | 32 Stat. 72 | Move Baxter, Marion and Searcy to the Western District and create the third division, Harrison, consisting of Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton, and Searcy. | Arkansas districts - 1902 |
| March 3, 1911 | 36 Stat. 1106 | Woodruff moved from Western Division to Eastern Division. Fulton, Randolph, and Lawrence moved from Northern Division to the new Jonesboro Division. Clay, Craighead, Greene, Mississippi, and Poinsett moved from the Eastern Division to the new Jonesboro Division. | Arkansas districts - 1911 |
| March 4, 1915 | 38 Stat. 1193 | Desha and Chicot moved from Western Division to Eastern Division. Yell moved from Fort Smith Division to the Eastern District, Western Division. | Arkansas districts - 1915 |
| April 12, 1924 | 43 Stat. 90 | Chicot county moved from Eastern Division to Western Division. | Arkansas districts - 1924 |
| February 17, 1925 | 43 Stat. 948 | El Dorado Division created with Columbia, Ouachita, Calhoun, Union from the Texarkana Division. | Arkansas districts - 1925 |
| April 16, 1926 | 44 Stat. 296 | Bradley and Ashley added to El Dorado from the Western Division of the Eastern District. | Arkansas districts - Apr 16, 1926 |
| April 21, 1926 | 44 Stat. 304 | Moved Fulton from Jonesboro Division to "Batesville Division" (Northern Division). | Arkansas districts - Apr 21, 1926 |
| April 17, 1940 | 54 Stat. 109 | Fayetteville Division created with Benton, Washington (both taken from Fort Smith Division), and Madison (taken from Harrison Division). | Arkansas districts - Apr 17, 1940 |
| June 11, 1940 | 54 Stat. 302 | Hot Springs Division created from Pike and from Montgomery, Garland, Hot Spring, and Clark (the last four being from Western Division, Eastern District). | Arkansas districts - Jun 11, 1940 |
| May 20, 1961 | 75 Stat. 84 | Pine Bluff Division created from Desha (from the Eastern Division) and Grant, Dallas, Jefferson, Cleveland, Lincoln, Drew, Arkansas, and Chicot (from the Western Division). | Arkansas districts - 1961 |
| November 26, 2019 | 83(a) Stat. 28 | The "Divisional Realignment for the Eastern District of Arkansas Act of 2019" comprises three divisions. The Central Division comprises the counties of Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Dallas, Drew, Faulkner, Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Stone, Van Buren, White, and Yell. Court for the Central Division shall be held at Little Rock. The Delta Division comprises the counties of Arkansas, Chicot, Crittenden, Desha, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, and St. Francis. Court for the Delta Division shall be held at Helena. The Northern Division comprises the counties of Clay, Craighead, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph, Sharp, and Woodruff. Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Jonesboro. | Arkansas Counties-2019 |