Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has appointed Cory Allen Cox, a former law partner of the judge he’s temporarily replacing, to serve as a special justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court in hearing an appeal of a case over the effective date of the LEARNS Act.
Cox, who lives in Perryville, replaces Cody Hiland, the court’s newest associate justice, who recused from the LEARNS case last week. Cox and Hiland formerly shared a Conway-based law practice — Hiland, Thomas & Cox Pllc — with Ted Thomas, who later served on the state’s Public Service Commission.
Financial disclosure records show Cox spent a hefty chunk of money on Sanders’ inauguration while acting as a lobbyist, as first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Hiland was appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas during Donald Trump‘s presidency and later became chairman of the state’s Republican Party after working for the Sanders campaign last fall.
Hiland gave no reason for his recusal. Sanders named him to the court earlier this month after the death of Justice Robin Wynne. The appointment came as the state appealed a lower court ruling in a lawsuit challenging whether the LEARNS Act was passed with a valid emergency clause, which would determine when the new education law takes effect.
Cox, 49, was legal adviser for about five years to Sanders’ father, Mike Huckabee, when he was governor. Cox has since worked as legislative director and then chief of staff under Leslie Rutledge when she was attorney general. He also has worked as deputy general counsel for the Arkansas Department of Human Services and as government affairs liaison and attorney for the state land commissioner.
Cox’s LinkedIn page indicates he is a lobbyist for CareSource, one of a handful of health care companies in the state’s PASSE program, a Medicaid managed care program for Arkansans with severe behavioral and developmental health issues. Cox’s monthly financial disclosure filing from January shows he spent $50,000 on the governor’s inaugural ball at the Statehouse Convention Center on behalf of CareSource. The Democrat-Gazette also reported that Cox’s spending from Jan. to April was the most disclosed by any lobbyist in the state.