John Dan Kemp

John Dan Kemp Jr. (born September 8, 1951) is an American lawyer and jurist who is the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.[1]

Dan Kemp
Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2017
Preceded by	Howard Brill
Personal details
Born	John Dan Kemp Jr. September 8, 1951 Batesville, Arkansas, U.S.
Education	University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (BA, JD)

Born in Batesville, Arkansas, Kemp attended Mountain View High School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas in 1973, followed by a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1976. While attending the University of Arkansas, he was a member of the Gamma Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Kemp was a city judge and city attorney in Mountain View before being elected as a circuit judge in Stone County, Arkansas in 1986, which position he held for 29 years.[2]

In 2015, Kemp decided to challenge sitting Justice Courtney Goodson for the Chief Justice position.[3][4] Kemp defeated Goodson to win the seat.[2]

References

1. The American Bench: Judges of the Nation, 2002/2003. Forster-Long, LLC. December 2002. ISBN 9780931398469.
2. Riddle, Brandon (March 1, 2016). "Kemp defeats Goodson in chief justice race for state's high court". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
3. Brantley, Max (November 6, 2015). "Judge Dan Kemp to challenge Courtney Goodson for chief justice". Arkansas Times.
4. "Sitting justice, circuit judge vying to be Supreme Court chief justice". Arkansas News. February 28, 2016.