91st Arkansas General Assembly

91st Arkansas General Assembly
← 90th 92nd →
Arkansas State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Term	January 9, 2017 (2017-01-09) – January 14, 2019 (2019-01-14)
Arkansas Senate
Members	34 (23 R, 11 D, 1 vacant)
President of the Senate	Tim Griffin (R)
President Pro Tempore of the Senate	Jonathan Dismang (R)
Majority Leader	Jim Hendren (R)
Minority Leader	Keith Ingram (D)
Party control	Republican Party
House of Representatives
Members	100 (69 R, 30 D, 1 Independent)
House Speaker	Jeremy Gillam (R) Matthew Shepherd (R)
Speaker pro Tempore	Jon Eubanks (R)
Majority Leader	Ken Bragg (R)
Minority Leader	David Whitaker (D)
Party control	Republican Party
Sessions
1st January 9, 2017 – May 1, 2017 2nd May 1, 2017 – May 3, 2017 3rd February 12, 2018 – March 12, 2018 4th March 13, 2018 – March 16, 2018

The Ninety-First Arkansas General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2017 and 2018. In this General Assembly, the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 23 senators were Republicans, 11 were Democrats, and one position was vacant until April. In the House, 69 representatives were Republicans, 30 were Democrats, and one was independent.

The Regular Session of the 91st General Assembly opened on January 9, 2017. It adjourned sine die May 1, 2017,^[1] immediately followed the First Extraordinary Session.

The 91st General Assembly was marked by several scandals, indictments, and guilty pleas involving current and former legislators. Two sitting legislators resigned following charges of fraud and other crimes. Former legislators Hank Wilkins IV, Jon Woods^[2] and Micah Neal^[3] plead guilty during the 91st General Assembly, detailing a fraud and kickback scheme abusing Arkansas's General Improvement Fund. Their pleas indicated sitting members in the 91st General Assembly could be charged later.

Representative Mickey Gates (R-22nd) made national news for failing to pay taxes for 15 years, but resisted calls for his resignation.^[4]

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• Senator Greg Standridge (R-16th) died November 16, 2017. He was replaced by Breanne Davis (R) via special election on May 22, 2018.^[5]
• Senator Eddie Joe Williams (R-29th) resigned November 15, 2017 to serve as President Donald Trump's (R) representative to the Southern States Energy Board. He was replaced by Ricky Hill (R) via special election on May 22, 2018.^[6]
• Representative David Branscum (R-83rd) resigned November 17, 2017 to become Arkansas's rural development director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was replaced by Donald Ragland (R) via special election on May 22, 2018.^[7]
• Speaker Jeremy Gillam (R-45th) resigned June 15, 2018 to become director of governmental affairs and external relations at the University of Central Arkansas. Gillam's seat in the 45th District remained vacant, though Matthew Shepherd took over as speaker on June 15, 2018.^[8]
• Senator Jake Files (R-8th) resigned February 9, 2018, following a federal wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering guilty plea.^[9] He was replaced by Frank Glidewell (R) via special election on August 14, 2018.^[10]
• Senator Jeremy Hutchinson (R-33rd) resigned August 31, 2018, following a federal grand jury indictment of eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false tax returns.^[11][12]

Source: Arkansas Senate^[13]

• List of Arkansas General Assemblies