---
title: "Patricia James | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/patricia-james-circuit-judge-sixth-judicial-circuit-sixth-judicial-circuit-division-11-ar"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Patricia James

Sixth Judicial Circuit · Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: Sixth Judicial Circuit
- State: Arkansas
- Role: Circuit Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-26

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### remote hearing platform

Scope: statewide

Arkansas Judiciary publishes electronic-hearing Zoom resources and court-user guides for remote proceedings.

Evidence excerpt: Zoom Guides for Court Users

[Arkansas Judiciary: Electronic Hearings With Zoom](https://arcourts.gov/arkansas-supreme-court-statement-novel-coronavirus-outbreak-and-courts/electronic-hearings-zoom)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### audio recording

Scope: statewide

Arkansas Judiciary publishes state-district-court digital audio recording guidance as an official court resource.

Evidence excerpt: AOC Provisional Guidelines for Digital Audio Recording in State District Courts

[Arkansas Judiciary: District Courts](https://arcourts.gov/courts/district-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://arcourts.gov/directories/circuit-judges)
- [Official roster](https://arcourts.gov/directories/circuit-judges)
- [Arkansas Judiciary official judicial roster](https://arcourts.gov/directories/circuit-judges)
- [Arkansas Judiciary: Electronic Hearings With Zoom](https://arcourts.gov/arkansas-supreme-court-statement-novel-coronavirus-outbreak-and-courts/electronic-hearings-zoom)
- [Arkansas Judiciary: District Courts](https://arcourts.gov/courts/district-courts)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- Elected Circuit Court Judge in 2012, initially presiding over juvenile cases at the Roosevelt Road Courthouse in Little Rock
- Patricia “Patti” James is a judge on the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Arkansas, serving in Division 11, Subdistrict 6.2

### Education

- She later received her J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) Bowen School of Law in 1995, where she was selected for Law Review.

### Additional information

- In 2020, she transitioned to overseeing the civil docket, managing over 2,000 pending cases and closing more than 1,300 within 18 months.
- She was first elected in 2012 and re‐elected in 2014 for a term that ended in 2020.
- focusing on family law and child advocacy.
- She later expanded her docket to include Veterans Treatment Court and Drug Treatment Court, emphasizing restorative justice and problem‐solving approaches.
- Before joining the bench, James worked in the financial sector as a loan review officer, auditor, and in‐house counsel at Eagle Bank, and later in private practice at the James Law Firm
- James was born and raised in Osceola, Arkansas, graduating high school before earning a B.S. in Business Economics from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.