Judge Member- Cindy Thyer- received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1992 and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1995.  In May 2019, she received her Master’s Degree in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada at Reno – Trial Judges Major.

After serving as a deputy prosecuting attorney and practicing law in a general practice for a number of years, Judge Thyer was appointed circuit judge by Governor Mike Huckabee in 2005 and again by Governor Mike Beebe in 2007.  She is now in her 17^th year as circuit judge having been elected without opposition in successive terms beginning in 2008.   

Judge Thyer is an active member of the Arkansas Bar Foundation (serving as President 2020-21) and the American Law Institute (current adviser for Children and the Law Restatement and previously served in Members Consultative Group for Model Penal Code – Sentencing). She also currently serves as Chair of Arkansas Judicial Council’s Trial Court Employee Committee and has previously served on the Specialty Courts, Juvenile, and Bar Liaison committees.

In addition, her service in the Arkansas Bar Association over the years includes: member of the Board of Governors (Chair 2006-2007), tenured member of the House of Delegates, Parliamentarian, Legislation Committee, and Chair of the Young Lawyers’ Section.  She has also served by Supreme Court appointment to the Arkansas Judiciary’s Strategic Planning Committee and Civil Jury Instruction Committee.

Judge Thyer ran unopposed for election to Position 2 of the Arkansas Court of Appeals and will begin her term in January 2023.