---
title: "Steele Hays | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/steele-hays-6277"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-10-07"
---

# Steele Hays

Arkansas Court of Appeals · Judge

## Profile

- Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals
- State: Arkansas
- Role: Judge
- Service status: former
- Last verified: 2026-08-22

## Summary

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

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2001-present
- Marion Steele Hays (1925–2011) was an American jurist who held the role of an Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1981 to 1994, known for his liberal judicial philosophy and frequent dissents on capital punishment and racial issues.
- He also held the role of a Pulaski and Perry County circuit judge (1969–1971) under Governor Winthrop Rockefeller

### Education

- B.A. in history and political science from the University of Arkansas in 1948 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School the same year.

### Additional information

- Wrote the 1983 landmark decision in Jim DuPree v.
- In 1979, Governor Bill Clinton appointed him to the inaugural Arkansas Court of Appeals.
- Born March 25, 1925 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Hays was the son.
- Date of birth: 1925
- Alma School District No. 30, striking down Arkansas’s public school funding system as unconstitutional.
- Hays co‐founded the prestigious Little Rock law firm Spitzberg, Mitchell and Hays
- handling civil, family, and pro bono cases Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
- Dissented alone in every case upholding the death penalty, calling it immoral and unconstitutional.
- He authored 652 opinions and wrote 213 dissents and 33 concurrences during his tenure.

## 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://www.courtlistener.com/person/6277/steele-hays/)
- [Official roster](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/6277/steele-hays/)
- [Arkansas Court of Appeals current judicial profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/6277/steele-hays/)
- [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)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/6277/steele-hays/)
- [Steele Hays - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Steele_Hays)
- [Wikidata: Steele Hays](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q87469329)

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