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Arkansas Supreme Court Studying Judicial Election Reforms

Arkansas' highest court has formed a committee to study judicial election reforms after a pair of state Supreme Court races that were overshadowed by record breaking spending from outside conservative groups.

The Supreme Court on Thursday announced it was forming a committee to look at the issue following the March 1 judicial election. The committee will include Justices Karen Baker, Courtney Goodson, Jo Hart, Rhonda Wood and Robin Wynne.

Goodson lost her race for chief justice against Judge Dan Kemp after outside groups blanketed the state with ads and mailers criticizing her. The groups and candidates for that and another high court seat spent more than $1.3 million on TV advertising, a record for the state in a judicial election.

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