In 1886 he was serving as a U.S. District Attorney,[4] but by 1890 no longer held the position[5] and was an associate justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1889 to 1890.[6]
Sandels spent the greater portion of his life in Arkansas. He served as mayor of Fort Smith for two term. In 1885 he was appointed United States attorney for the Western district of Arkansas, which position he filled until the spring ot 1889, when he resigned to accept a position on the Supreme Bench of Arkansas, to which he had been elected. On September 1, 1899, he was again elected to tho same position, receiving the largest majority of any man on the Democratic ticket. He leaves two small children, his wife having died about a year ago.[1]
His death, after a few years on the court, was lamented and he was referred to as one of the state's best supreme court justices.[7]
Sandels died at his home in Fort Smith at the age of 39.[1]