Jack Holt Jr.

Jack Wilson Holt Jr. (May 18, 1929 – March 5, 2023) was an American attorney and judge who served as a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1969 to 1983, and as chief justice from 1985 to 1995.

Early life, education, military service, and career Born in Harrison, Arkansas, Holt graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1952. He spent three years serving stateside in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. In 1955, Holt became a Deputy Prosecutor for the Sixth Judicial Circuit until becoming Chief Assistant Attorney General in 1960. Holt was appointed to be Arkansas Attorney General in 1962, the seat having been vacated by Holt's uncle, J. Frank Holt, accepting an appointment to the state supreme court. In 1963, he went into private practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. After leaving the Court, he volunteered and contracted with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) to serve as that body's administrative hearing officer from 1998 to 2010. He also successfully campaigned for Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution, passed in 2000, which reformed and reorganized Arkansas's judicial system into its modern form.

Holt died at his home near Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 93. The AGFC held a moment of silence for him.