Emily Abbott, deputy executive director of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission (JDDC), will take over the agency’s helm upon the exit of David J. Sachar.

Abbott will be the fourth director in agency history and the first female director. Abbott has served as Deputy Executive Director since 2018. Previously, she was an Assistant Attorney General and a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney.

She graduated from Sparkman High School in Dallas County, the University of Central Arkansas Schedler Honors College, and the William H. Bowen School of Law.

Sachar was named director of the Center for Judicial Ethics, part of the National Center for State Courts. He will depart the JDDC on April 1, 2023. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is a central resource for consulting, educational and research projects that enhance the rule of law and improve the administration of justice in state courts and courts around the world.

Sachar has been with the JDDC since 2007 and has been director since January of 2013. He is a graduate of Rose Bud High School in White County, Harding University in Searcy, and the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock.