A Little Rock attorney will run for the state appeals court seat set to be vacated by the judge for whom she works as a law clerk, she announced Monday.
Wendy Wood, 51, is running to replace Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Larry Vaught, who plans to retire at the end of his term.
Wood has served as Vaught's law clerk for more than 14 years.
The seat is Position 2 in the Court of Appeals' District 6, which includes Perry, Pulaski and Saline counties.
Working for Vaught has given her experience in a unique area of the law and makes her a "perfectly qualified" candidate for the position and that working for Vaught inspired her to run, she said in a Monday interview.
In a news release, Wood said she has worked on more than 1,500 appeals.
"I know firsthand each case can be life changing, whether it is a criminal case having innocent victims or a family law case where the child's wellbeing is of paramount importance," the release stated.
Before she started working for Vaught in 2006, Wood spent a decade as an attorney working in civil defense litigation at Little Rock's Barber Law Firm, according to the resume available on her campaign website.
She graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Vanderbilt University.
Wood is also one of the top female basketball players in Arkansas history, earning All-American honors in high school and college and playing professionally in Tokyo, Japan, for one season in the early 1990s. She said the qualities that made her a successful athlete translate to the field of law, including being hardworking and playing by the rules.
She lives in Little Rock with her husband, Paul, and two daughters, Madeline, 20, and Anna, 16.
Vaught, 74, of Little Rock, is one of at least two judges on the Arkansas Court of Appeals who are not seeking reelection. He told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in April that he isn't running again because state law would require him to forfeit his judicial retirement if he started a new term.
Vaught has served on the Appeals Court since 2001.
Appeals Judge Phillip T. Whiteaker, 61, of Cabot, has also said he won't seek a third term next year.
Having served since 2013, Whiteaker said in April that he had enjoyed his time as a judge but felt it was time to move on.
Whiteaker holds Position 2 in the Court of Appeals' District 1, which includes Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Poinsett, Prairie, White and Woodruff counties.
Appeals Judge Raymond Abramson of Holly Grove said in April that he wasn't ready to say whether he would seek election next year. At 70, Abramson would also have to forfeit his judicial retirement if reelected to Position 1 in the Court of Appeals' District 1.
The nonpartisan judicial election and partisan primary election will be May 24, 2022, according to the secretary of state's office.
Monday marked the first day 2022 judicial candidates in Arkansas are allowed to announce their campaigns. Under Rule 4.2 of the Arkansas Judicial Code of Conduct, judicial candidates are barred from establishing a campaign committee or speaking about their candidacy more than 365 days before the election.
The judges on the state Court of Appeals are paid $179,123 annually this year. The court's chief judge is paid a salary of $181,855 a year.
The court is made up of 12 judges who serve staggered eight-year terms.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.