State Lottery Commission Now Complete

The Arkansas Lottery Commission is now complete after Governor Beebe filled the final three positions on Monday morning.

His choices are:

George J. Hammons of Pine Bluff
Hammons is Chair of Philander Smith College's Department of Chemistry and is a senior scientist at the National Center for Toxicological Research. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and has previously served on the Arkansas Racing Commission and the Bradley County Board of Election Commissioners. This appointment expires April 1, 2011.

Dianne Lamberth of Batesville
Lamberth is secretary of the Lyon College Board of Trustees, is a former instructor at the college and has served as Chair of the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville Board of Visitors. Governor Beebe previously appointed her Chair of the Task Force for the 21st-Century Economy. This appointment expires April 1, 2015.

Ben Pickard of Beebe
Pickard retired last year after 28 years as Vice Chancellor of Student Services at Arkansas State University-Beebe. He formerly served as Director of Financial Aid at the college, is a past president of the Arkansas Council on Student Services and was appointed by Governor Beebe to the Arkansas Student Loan Authority. This appointment expires April 1, 2013.

Rep. Robbie Wills, the Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives made his selections for the State Lottery Commission on April 1:

Joe White, a small business owner from Conway.
Mike Malone of Fayetteville, Executive Director of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Susan Ward-Jones, M.D., of Marion, Chief Executive Officer of the East Arkansas Family Health Center in West Memphis.

On March 25, Senate Pro Tempore Bob Johnson made his appointments to the commission:

Ray Thornton
Ray Thornton has served since 2005 as the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law Public Service Fellow. He was an Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1997 to 2004. Before his election to the Court, Thornton served as Arkansas’s Second District Congressman for six years. He has also served as President of the University of Arkansas System, President of Arkansas State University, Arkansas’s Fourth District Congressman, and Arkansas's Attorney General. From 1956 to 1970, he engaged in the private practice of law. Thornton has been a member of the Committee on Government/Industry Cooperation in Biomedical Research of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He served both as Chairman of the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as Chairman of the National Institutes of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. He also chaired the state Board of Law Examiners, served as a corporate officer in a number of business enterprises, and represented clients in matters relating to finance, government regulation, antitrust litigation, utility litigation, and patenting and licensing.

Patty Lynn Shipp
Patty L. Shipp of Morrilton, has been a small business owner since 1979. In addition to her extensive business experience, Ms. Shipp is active in education and public service. She was a member of the local school board for five years and continues her 12-year service on the South Conway County Public School Foundation, an organization that raises money to implement technology in the schools. She is on the Steering Committee of Conway County School Counts!, a grassroots effort to fund tuition assistance to local students attending UA/Morrilton. Her volunteer service includes the following: Saint Anthony's Hospital Governing Board, Morrilton Area Chamber of Commerce Board, Child Development Board of Directors, Morrilton Parks and Recreation Commission, Conway County Community Fund Board of Directors, multiple offices including presidency of the school district's PTA, service positions at the Morrilton First Baptist Church, and Pure Joy International Retreat Ministry board of directors and financial and technical administrator.

Derrick W. Smith
Derrick W. Smith is a partner in the Mitchell Williams law firm of Little Rock, Rogers and Austin. His practice focuses on insurance corporate and regulatory law, appellate practice, and administrative law. He received a bachelor's degree with distinction from Hendrix College and a J.D. with honors from the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law and was admitted to practice in Arkansas in 2000. He since has been admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and before the United States Supreme Court. Smith is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Arkansas Bar Association, and the Pulaski County Bar Association. He is author of several published works, including a chapter in the American Bar Association publication Superseding and Staying Judgments. He is a member of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission and serves on the boards of City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock and Just Communities of Central Arkansas. Smith also is a past president of the Hendrix College Alumni Association Board of Governors.

In other matters Monday, Governor Beebe also named eight individuals to be Special Associate Justices to the Arkansas Supreme Court:

Raymond Abramson, Clarendon, and Kelley Webb, Jonesboro, for the case styled The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality vs. Oil Producers of Arkansas, Betsy Production Company, Inc., Jerry Langley Oil Company, LLC, Shuler Drilling Company, Inc., Mike A. Davis, James Langley, Gary Sewell and Robert Reynolds.

Sam Boyce, Newport, and Jennifer Wilson-Harvey, Little Rock, for the case styled Union Pacific Railroad v. Victor S. Vickers.

John Goodson, Texarkana, and David Maddox, Mena, for the case styled Arkansas Beverage Retailers Association, Inc., and Albert Young v. Michael Langley, Director of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, ABC Board, Daniel S. Holtrey and Sam's West, Inc., d/b/a Sam's Club #8209.

Stuart Jackson, Little Rock, for the case styled Arkansas Department of Correction v. Frank Williams, Jr.

Gary Rogers, Little Rock, for the case styled Fort Smith School District v. Mike Huckabee, Governor.

Beebe also announced the following appointments to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism:

Steve Arrison, Hot Springs, reappointment. Appointment expires January 14, 2015.

Tom Schueck, Little Rock. Appointment expires January 14, 2015. Replaces Wade Williams.

Cindy Smith, McGehee. Appointment expires January 14, 2014. Replaces Ness Sechrest.