Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission head appointed as new director of National Center for State Courts 

On Friday, February 24, 2023, the National Center for State Courts reported that it has appointed David J. Sachar as the new director of its Center for Judicial Ethics.

NCSC’s Center for Judicial Ethics is a national clearinghouse for information about discipline and judicial ethics. The appointment of Mr. Sachar will be established on the center’s existing work by building more training opportunities for state judicial ethics staff, and support for judges and court systems in other countries as part of NCSC’s rule of law work.

In his biography, David J. Sachar was listed as a former Executive Director of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission. He has been in the position since January 2013. He was Deputy Executive Director of the JDDC for over 5 years prior to his promotion. He will succeed the center’s former director, Cynthia Gray.

During the time of Mr. Sachar in the JDDC, the Arkansas Times reported some of the achievements of the former. Included here, was his and the commission’s investigation of the former Judge Mike Maggio regarding his illegal campaign contributions and bigoted comments towards the LSU fansite and the confidential information he revealed about an adoption case that involves actress Charlie Theron.

Moreover, Mr. Sachar and his team were successful in uncovering the abuse of a Wynne Judge that traded lighter degrees of sentences in exchange for sexual favors. The cases that were handled by Mr. Sachar were appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court which resulted in state and federal criminal convictions. Some of the judicial misconduct cases appeared as subject to state, national, and international news. He also speaks at judicial conferences to help members of the judiciary avoid ethical issues during their tenure in office as well as when campaigning for elected judicial office.

Mr. Sachar has long been involved in the national and international judicial ethics community, as the president of the national board of directors of the Association of Judicial Disciplinary Counsel and a member of the advisory committee of the Center for Judicial Ethics for the National Center for State Courts.

Mary C. McQueen, president of the NCSC stated, “We know David Sachar will provide dynamic leadership in this expanding area of our work, both here in the United States and internationally.”

Mr. Sachar was a member of the Arkansas Bar Association and a CLE instructor. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William Bowen School of Law, and a volunteer instructor of law at the Little Rock Police Academy. Mr. Sachar attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1994 for his doctorate.

Source: National Center for State Courts