Executive Director
Kay S. Palmer has been the executive director of the Arkansas District Judges Council since 2006. In that position she is responsible for managing the day to day activities of the Council, including: (a) board activities; (b) membership responsibilities; (c) fiscal responsibilities; (d) communication responsibilities; and (e) providing research and administrative assistance to the district judges.
Prior to beginning her service to the Council, Palmer was the manager of judicial branch education for the Administrative Office of the Courts of the Arkansas Supreme Court. In that position she was responsible for activities involving the continuing education of appellate judges, circuit judges, district judges, appellate staff, case coordinators, official court reporters, district court clerks, city court clerks, and district court probation officers. She held that position for 21 years.
Palmer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech and Drama from Henderson State University and a Masters of Arts in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has taught at the secondary and college level and is currently an adjunct instructor of Oral Communications at both National Park Community College in Hot Springs and Ouachita Technical College in Malvern.
Palmer has worked on numerous national projects involving the design of curriculum and development of programs on topics including domestic violence, privatization of court records, court futures, driving while intoxicated, improving access to courts, customer service, mediation, and judicial ethics. She has been a member of the faculty of the National Judicial College and of the American Institute for Justice and has taught officials and employees of the judicial branch at both state and national programs. She has served as president of the National Association of State Judicial Educators.
She currently resides in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.