Judge Joe Short swears in Kolby Harper to become District 38 Judge.

Kolby Harper was sworn in today in the Hempstead County Courthouse as District 38 Judge (Hempstead and Nevada Counties) just before hearing her first cases there. She was appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson to fill the remaining two and a half years of the term for Judge Tony Yocom who is retired as of yesterday.

Judge Harper, a native of Gurdon, comes here from having worked as a deputy prosecutor in Saline County, but she served as a deputy prosecutor in this district for a year and a half. In all, she has served as deputy prosecutor in three districts.

Her law degree comes from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. She graduated from Ouachita Baptist University with majors in Political Science and Spanish.

Asked her feelings about assuming the judgeship here, Harper said, “This has always been a great place while I lived here as the deputy prosecutor for the support. It's a great place to work. There's a lot of great help in the courthouse. So I'm just really excited to be back.”

Her term ends December 31, 2024. She is barred by the terms of her appointment from running in that year’s election.