Judge Welch

Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch is the District Judge for the 31st District (Pulaski County Department) which consists of Pulaski and Perry Counties. Prior to being elected District Judge, he served in the 6th Judicial District -16th Division (Pulaski and Perry Counties) as Circuit Judge for 12 years.

A 1968 Hall High graduate, Judge Welch received his bachelor’s degree from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. in 1972, and his juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975. The Judge attended both the Fayetteville and Little Rock law campuses, graduating at Little Rock from the then Little Rock night campus of UAF. He attended the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

While in private practice, prior to taking the Bench, Welch participated in over 125 jury trials. He has appeared before the Arkansas Court of Appeals, the Arkansas Supreme Court, the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He is also licensed in the US Supreme Court.

Judge Welch was president of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers’ Association in 1990-91 and was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) for 16 years. (1996-2012). In addition, he was President of the William Overton Inn of Court and served for six years on the Supreme Court Committee on Model Jury Instructions (Civil). Judge Welch served 3 years as a member of the House of Delegates of the Arkansas Bar Association. He is a member of ABOTA.

Welch has been recognized by his peers on many occasions. In addition to being named one of the State’s Best Lawyers by the Arkansas Times, Mid-South Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America, he has received the Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, the Roxanne Wilson Trial Advocacy Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Trial Lawyers’ Association. In 2015, he received the “Trial Judge of the Year” award from the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association. Welch was named “Circuit Judge of the Year” by the Pulaski County Bar in 2021 and again in 2024.

Welch is a member of the State Judicial Council where he served 3 years as Parliamentarian. He is active in the Bowen Law School’s Law Student Mentoring program. In 2017 Judge Welch was named the Bowen “Professional Mentor of the Year”.
Chief Justice Kemp appointed Judge Welch to chair the Supreme Court Sub-Committee on Complex Litigation 2017-19.

He is a former active member of Rotary 99 and has served on the Presbyterian Village Foundation Board. He has volunteered time to the North Little Rock Teen Court and was a sponsor of the North Little Rock Police Athletic League. He is past President of the North Little Rock Jaycees.

He and his wife, Cheryl, have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. And the Welches have a rescue terrier named “Frankie”, who has one blue eye!