LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ Supreme Court and its chief justice are publicly feuding, days after she was sworn into office, over who has the authority to fire the court’s top officials.

Blacklock is replacing retired Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, while Abbott's legal adviser James Sullivan takes the open spot on the bench.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) appointed Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a conservative ally of the governor, to serve as the chief justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Blacklock will replace Nathan Hecht, the state court’s longest-serving justice,

Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Karen Baker cited a non-official memo from her predecessor as the basis for her administrative authority in a mass email sent to judicial employees Monday. Former Chief Justice John Dan Kemp wrote and signed a memo in February 2017,

Family members, politicians and members of the Montana Supreme Court welcomed newly elected Chief Justice Cory Swanson during a swearing-in ceremony Monday in Helena, marking the beginning of a new leadership chapter for the state’s highest court.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned on Tuesday that the United States must continue to uphold "judicial independence."

John C. Holstein, retired judge and former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri, died Dec. 31 in Springfield. He was 79.

Blacklock replaces Nathan Hecht, the longest serving justice on the high court. Gov. Greg Abbott also appointed his general counsel, James Sullivan, to the bench.

Abbott originally appointed Blacklock to the high court as the Place 2 justice in 2018. Abbott's general counsel James Sullivan will replace Blacklock as a new justice.

Abbott appointed Justice Jimmy Blacklock to serve as chief justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, the governor's office announced Monday.