LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ Supreme Court and its chief justice are publicly feuding, days after she was sworn into office, over who has the authority to fire the court’s top officials.

Blacklock is replacing retired Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, while Abbott's legal adviser James Sullivan takes the open spot on the bench.

Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Karen Baker cited a non-official memo from her predecessor as the basis for her administrative authority in a mass email sent to judicial employees Monday. Former Chief Justice John Dan Kemp wrote and signed a memo in February 2017,

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) appointed Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a conservative ally of the governor, to serve as the chief justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Blacklock will replace Nathan Hecht, the state court’s longest-serving justice,

Blacklock replaces Nathan Hecht, the longest serving justice on the high court. Gov. Greg Abbott also appointed his general counsel, James Sullivan, to the bench.

Abbott appointed Justice Jimmy Blacklock to serve as chief justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, the governor's office announced Monday.