The Hon. Kolby A. Harper is a judge for the Nevada County District Court and the Hempstead County District Court in Arkansas. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Asa Hutchinson on July 18, 2022, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Tony Yocom.
Prior to her appointment, Harper was a deputy prosecuting attorney for the 22nd Judicial District, a position to which she was named in 2019. Before that, she spent time as a deputy prosecuting attorney for the 8th North Judicial District (2017 to 2019).
Harper earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Ouachita Baptist University in 2009. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2015. As a law student, she clerked for the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and externed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
After graduating from law school, Harper began her legal career as a felony case coordinator for the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She served in that capacity until 2017, at which time she became a deputy prosecuting attorney.
Her memberships have included the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association. She also sat on the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Practice.