District Judge Chris Carnahan lives in Conway and won election to a full term service the Ninth State District Court comprising Faulkner and Van Buren counties in March of 2020. He operates a Sobriety Court for repeat or high blood alcohol offenders. Judge Carnahan also partners with the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton (Conway and Clinton
campuses) to enforce Defendants completing their GED as part of Shoplifting and other offenses.
Twice serving as a Special Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge Carnahan was unsuccessful in seeking election to that body in 2022.
He was appointed as Circuit Judge and District Judge in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Judge Carnahan served as General Counsel for the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy and senior deputy prosecuting
attorney in two judicial districts: Fifteenth (Conway, Logan, Scott, and Yell) and in the Twentieth (Faulkner, Van Buren, and Searcy).
Additional public service work included a civil-government practice. Judge Carnahan
was City Attorney for the cities of Holland, Menifee, and Oppelo, and deputy city attorney for the cities of Van Buren and Dyer in Crawford County. He also served as the City Prosecutor for
Fairfield Bay and Marshall.
While working as deputy prosecutor for the Fifteenth Judicial District, was in private practice as an attorney for the law firm of Tatum, Tatum, and Riedel in Danville. There, when his practice included Domestic Relations, Property, and other matters one usually finds in a small town practice. Judge Carnahan has litigated in the federal courts of both the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, in employment discrimination and criminal defense matters.
Judge Carnahan is active in civic involvement that includes the Conway Men’s Chorus and the Faulkner County Republican Election Commissioner. He has been involved in Conway
Community Arts Association, and is a proud member of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of American. He is a follower of Christ.