News

Rep. Matthew Shepherd is now the Speaker of the Arkansas House

Rep. Matthew Shepherd is now the Speaker of the Arkansas House.

We convened for a special House Caucus Friday morning. The House voted by acclamation to name Shepherd as Speaker for the remainder of the 91st General Assembly.

Rep. Matthew Shepherd is serving his fourth term in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He is from El Dorado and represents District 6, which includes part of Union County.
He was previously elected as Speaker-designate and expected to be confirmed as Speaker for the 92nd General Assembly which begins in January.

Rep. Shepherd is serving his second term as chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Last week, Speaker Jeremy Gillam submitted his resignation letter to Governor Asa Hutchinson as he announced he has accepted an employment opportunity at the University of Central Arkansas.
Although we are not expected to go back into session for the remainder of the year, it is still essential that the House addresses this leadership position.

The Speaker is also in charge of overseeing all House management functions throughout the year.
During session, his or her duties include supervising and directing the daily order of business, recognizing Members to speak, preserving order in the House, deciding all questions of order, certifying all measures passed, assigning committee leadership, and naming members to committees.
Speaker Gillam was the 5th person in Arkansas history to serve two terms as Speaker. He says the years he served have been the greatest honor of his professional life. Speaker Gillam addressed members before stepping down saying, “I leave here knowing they will continue to bring out the best in Arkansas. I want to thank them for allowing me to serve as the Speaker. I also want to thank the people of District 45 who elected me to represent our district. It has been an honor.”

The caucus meeting can be found online at www.arkansashouse.org

2018-07-02T17:09:42+00:00 Jun 18th, 2018|In the News|