Arkansas Supreme Court Lets Judges Ban Guns in Courtrooms

A handgun in a holster in a file photo. (David Ryder /Getty Images)

The long legal battle in Arkansas over firearms in courthouses turned another page as the state’s Supreme Court ruled that judges can ban guns from courtrooms and other rooms in courthouses where official business is conducted.

In a 3–2 ruling on June 6, the Arkansas Supreme Court granted circuit and district court judges the authority to decide whether to allow firearms in their courtrooms and other areas. The decision was issued less than two months after the court ruled that state law allows attorneys to bring guns into courthouses but left unresolved the matter of whether this extends to courtrooms.

“All judges shall have the inherent authority to control security in their courtrooms,” reads the June 6 order, which notes that this includes the power to “promulgate orders regulating, restricting, or prohibiting the possession of firearms within their courtrooms and other rooms in which the court and/or its staff routinely conducts business.”

The rooms where Arkansas judges have the authority to restrict firearms include, but are not limited to, judicial chambers, law clerks’ offices, witness rooms, and court reporters’ offices.

Justice Shawn Womack dissented, calling the court’s adoption of the administrative order “improper.” Justice Barbara Webb joined in dissent.

Guns in Courtrooms and Courthouses

The dissenting justices cited in their opinion that the order directly contradicts the principle of judicial restraint, because a majority of the court previously stated that it wouldn’t address the issue until it ended up before the high court in a case.

“By prematurely imposing Administrative Order No. 23, the court disregards this recent decision, undermining the integrity and consistency of our rulings,” Justice Womack wrote.

The “recent decision” referred to the April 18 order by the Arkansas Supreme Court that overturned a lower court ruling barring lawyers from carrying firearms into the courthouse.

In that decision, the high court held that attorneys, as officers of the court, are authorized by statute to carry guns in courthouses but because the petitioners excluded courtrooms from their appeal, the state Supreme Court’s gun possession authorization didn’t extend to those spaces.

At the time, Justice Womack—writing for the majority—noted that the high court would review the issue of bringing guns into courtrooms only when it was brought before it in a specific case.

“A decision on a challenge to the courtroom provision will be considered when it is before the court, and we will not sua sponte address it now,” Justice Womack wrote for the majority in the April 18 order, referring to an action taken by a court on its own initiative, without any prompting from the parties involved in the case.

Justice Karen Baker dissented in part, arguing that Arkansas law makes no distinction between courtroom and courthouse, setting the stage for the June 6 administrative order that clarifies judicial authority explicitly on carrying guns in courtrooms.

In joining the majority opinion in the June 6 order, Justice Baker and the majority clarified that they don’t consider their latest order a sua sponte decision, arguing that they were acting through the court’s administrative authority rather than deciding a legal challenge to a statute on appeal.

The dissenting justices also said Arkansas law already provides “fairly comprehensive” guidelines for firearm possession in public buildings, including courtrooms. They argued that the latest administrative order needlessly duplicates existing law and “introduces potential conflicts and confusion regarding courtroom security protocols.”

Background

The case originated in January 2020 when attorney Chris Corbitt wanted to bring firearms into a Pulaski County courtroom. He was prevented from doing so by a guard who informed him that lawyers weren’t authorized to possess handguns in the courtroom of any court or courthouse in Arkansas. The refusal was later backed by a detective from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, who required Mr. Corbitt to go through a metal detector to confirm he was unarmed before being allowed into court.

Mr. Corbitt argued he and other attorneys had the right to carry a firearm in court based on Act 1087 of 2017, codified in Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-73-122(b), which authorizes “officers of the court” to carry a firearm in any court or courthouse in the state.

His interpretation was challenged, winding its way through several lower courts before ending up before the Arkansas Supreme Court.