Arkansas Supreme Court affirms three appeals challenging Parole Board decisions

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Sept. 26, 2024, affirmed three appeals challenging decisions of the Arkansas Parole Board, leaving the underlying lower-court rulings intact. Justice Womack registered dissents in all three cases.

The cases the court affirmed were: CV-24-128, Jeremy Kennedy v. Arkansas Parole Board, from Izard County Circuit Court; CV-24-34, Vern Schuldheisz v. John Felts, Chairman, Arkansas Parole Board, from Pulaski County Circuit Court, Sixth Division; and CV-23-733, John Luckett v. Arkansas Parole Board (also naming John Felts, Jamol Jones, Andy Shock, Boyce Hamlet, Wendy Ryals, Doug Smith, and Lona McCastlain in their official capacities) from Pulaski County Circuit Court, Sixth Division. Each entry in the court’s docket is listed as "Affirmed" with the notation that Justice Womack dissented.

Why it matters: these rulings maintain the decisions of the lower courts in three matters involving the Arkansas Parole Board and the named petitioners. The Supreme Court’s affirmances mean the petitioners’ challenges did not succeed at the state’s highest court on the cited grounds. The court’s written docket entry indicates dissent by a sitting justice but does not, in the docket summary, provide the text of majority or dissenting opinions.

Details from the docket: the three matters were recorded on the court’s Sept. 26 per curiam docket as affirmed. The case captions and originating trial courts are recorded on the court’s public docket for Sept. 26, 2024. The docket entries do not include the full opinions in the summary pages; parties or counsel seeking the opinions would consult the court’s published opinions or the official docket for the full texts.

No formal directions to lower courts or further action are listed in the docket summary for these items.