Betty Clark Dickey was born in tiny Black Rock, Arkansas in Lawrence County in 1940. She graduated as valedictorian in 1958 from Walnut Ridge High School and went to the University of Arkansas, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1962.
Following college, Betty taught school within the Watson Chapel and Pine Bluff School Districts, worked in her husband’s law office, and raised four children before deciding to pursue a degree in law. Betty earned her juris doctorate in 1985 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and was admitted to the Bar and licensed to practice law in Arkansas and later, in Texas.
Betty enjoyed many years of private practice as an attorney but soon began her career in public service. She served as City Attorney in Redfield and Assistant City Attorney in Pine Bluff. From 1991 to 1993, she served as commission attorney for the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission. In 1995, Betty was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, consisting of Jefferson and Lincoln counties, to become the first female prosecuting attorney in Arkansas. She was appointed to the Arkansas Public Service Commission in 1999 by Governor Mike Huckabee, who later, in 2003, named Betty his chief legal counsel, the first woman to hold that role in Arkansas history.
Betty Dickey was appointed twice by Governor Mike Huckabee to serve stints on the Arkansas Supreme Court, one as Chief Justice. During her time on the state’s highest court, she authored a notable case involving the First Amendment and freedom of the press. She was appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson in 2015 as one of three special justices to hear a case related to Arkansas’s gay marriage ban. In 2021, she was named redistricting coordinator for the Arkansas Board of Apportionment.
Notably, Betty Dickey was appointed to be Special Prosecutor in 1997 to prosecute the charges against a trusted Boy Scout master, Jack Walls. Mr. Walls was a notable and well- connected Lonoke County citizen, accused of more than a decade of horrific sexual abuse crimes against young boys involved with scouting. Mr. Walls seemed to be evading the justice he deserved until Betty Dickey took the case, amended, and substantially upped the charges and vigorously prosecuted Mr. Walls. The prosecution was successful, and Mr. Walls was sentenced to four life terms, plus two forty-year terms to be served concurrently.
Betty Dickey has four children, John, Laura, Ted, and Rachel, two daughters-in-law and one son-in-law, as well as 10 grandchildren. She lives in Little Rock.
Photos courtesy of the Museum of American History, Cabot Public Schools, Inviting Arkansas, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.