Judge Cindy Thyer earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1992 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1995. In May 2019, she earned her Master of Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada at Reno – Trial Court Judge major.
After serving as a deputy prosecuting attorney and practicing law in a general practice for a number of years, Judge Thyer was appointed circuit judge by Governor Mike Huckabee in 2005 and again by Governor Mike Beebe in 2007. She was a circuit judge for seventeen years, having been elected without opposition in successive terms beginning in 2008.
Judge Thyer is an active member of the Arkansas Bar Foundation (serving as president 2020–2021) and the American Law Institute (currently serving as an adviser for Children and the Law Restatement and previously having participated in the Members Consultative Group for Model Penal Code – Sentencing). She also currently serves on the Arkansas Judicial Council’s Supreme Court Liaison and Retirement Committees. She has previously served as chair of the Trial Court Employee Committee and has served on the Juvenile, Specialty Court, and Bar Liaison Committees.
In addition, her service in the Arkansas Bar Association over the years includes member of the Board of Governors (Chair 2006–2007), tenured member of the House of Delegates, Parliamentarian, Legislation Committee, and chair of the Young Lawyers’ Section. She has also served by supreme court appointment to the Arkansas Judiciary’s Strategic Planning Committee and the Committee on Model Jury Instructions –Civil.
Judge Thyer ran unopposed for election to Position 2 of the Arkansas Court of Appeals and began her term on the court in January 2023.