• J.D., University of Arkansas School of Law, 1969
• B.S. in Psychology, Florida State University, 1962

During his twenty-one years in private law practice, Judge Bird was also actively involved in civic, community, and professional activities. He served as President of the Monticello Rotary Club, President of the Board of Directors of the Monticello Country Club, and President of the Board of the Southeast Arkansas Concert Association. He also served three years on the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Bar Foundation where he is a Foundation Fellow. He is also a sustaining member of the Arkansas Bar Association and served three years as a member of the association’s House of Delegates.

Bird was elected to and assumed the office of Circuit/Chancery Judge for the 10th Judicial District on January 1, 1991. In 1996, Judge Bird was elected to the office of Associate Judge of the Arkansas Court of Appeals for the 5th Court of Appeals District, which he assumed on January 1, 1997. As a circuit and appellate court judge, Bird was a member of the Arkansas Judicial Council where he served three years on its Education Committee and three years on its Board of Directors. During his judgeship, he was appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court to its Committee on Judicial Education where he served for six years.

Since his retirement from the Court of Appeals on January 1, 2009, Judge Bird has successfully completed a 40-hour course in Basic Mediation Skills and Process offered by the Arkansas Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission. He was certified by the Commission as a mediator for Arkansas’ Circuit Courts on December 1, 2009.