State supreme court vacancy count for December 2024

In this month’s state supreme court vacancy update, Ballotpedia tracked announced retirements, nominations, appointments, confirmations, and the swearing-in of justices from December 1 to December 30, 2024. Ballotpedia tracks court vacancies in all 52 state supreme courts.

Announced retirements:

Following an unsuccessful November 2024 retention election, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger announced she would retire on December 1, 2024. Kauger lost narrowly, garnering 49.8% of the vote in favor of retention, with 50.2% of the electorate voting against her retention. She was initially appointed to the state’s highest court in 1984 by Governor George Nigh (D), becoming the second woman justice to serve on the court. At the time of her retirement, she was the third longest-serving justice, serving just over 40 years on the court. If Governor Kevin Stitt (R) does not make an appointment within sixty days, Kauger’s replacement will be chosen by Chief Justice M. John Kane IV. Her replacement will have the option to stand retention during the 2026 Oklahoma general election.

Candidates nominated, appointed, and confirmed:

In December 2024, finalists were announced for the Arizona Supreme Court vacancy, and two justices were appointed to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

The Arizona Commission on the Appellate Court Appointments released a list of finalists for the vacancy on the state’s highest court. The final list contains two Arizona Court of Appeals judges, a deputy director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, the principal assistant city attorney of Tucson, and the principal deputy solicitor general for the Arizona Attorney General’s office. Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) will make the final appointment based on the list provided by the Commission. As of January 1, 2025, Hobbs had not announced an appointment.

Following the November 2024 Arkansas supreme court elections, two seats were scheduled to be vacated due to justices being elected to other seats on the court. Karen R. Baker won election to the chief justice position. She vacated her former Position 6 seat when she was sworn in. Courtney Rae Hudson won in a special election to the Position 2 seat on the court and vacated her former Position 3 seat when she was sworn in.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed replacements for both Baker and Hudson on December 20, 2024. For Baker’s former position, Sanders nominated Nicholas Bronni, a newcomer to the court. Before joining the court, Bronni served as the Arkansas Solicitor General. For Hudson’s former position, Sanders appointed Cody Hiland. Hiland was first appointed to the Position 2 seat on the court in July 2023 to replace former justice Robin Wynne, who died on June 21, 2023. In December 2024, he was reappointed to the court, this time for Position 3. All justices took the oath of office on January 1, 2025, and began serving in their new positions.

Justices sworn in:

One justice was sworn into office in December 2024. In Ohio, Dan Hawkins (R) was sworn into Justice Deters‘ (R) seat. Deters ran against incumbent Justice Melody Stewart (D) for a full term and won in a November 2024 election. Hawkins won the special election to replace Deters. Hawkins was sworn in on December 10, 2024, when Deters’ initial term ended. Deters will be sworn in again when his new term begins on January 2, 2025.