Brian Bowen of Little Rock, a former chief of staff to the state Department of Human Services director, has started work as the deputy attorney general for the State Agencies Department.
The attorney general's State Agencies Department provides legal representation to more than 200 state agencies, boards, commissions, two-year colleges and other entities.
Bowen's salary is $100,000 a year, said Judd Deere, a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Bowen was paid $77,861 a year as chief of staff to Human Services Department Director Cindy Gillespie, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
He also previously served as assistant director of the Human Services Department's Division of Aging and Adult Services as well as an attorney in the department's office of chief counsel, Rutledge's office said in a news release last week.
Bowen, who started Oct. 2, fills a vacancy created when Butch Reeves departed the attorney general's office to work as senior adviser for criminal justice for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Deere said. Reeves' salary is $105,000 a year in the governor's office -- up from his $101,000 a year salary in the attorney general's office, state officials said.
Reeves assumed the position that became vacant with the departure of Kelly Eichler from the governor's office in August, Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said. Eichler's salary was $95,338 a year in the governor's office. Reeves was a senior assistant attorney general from 1987-96 and chief legal counsel and criminal justice adviser for Gov. Mike Huckabee from 1996-2003. He also served on the Workers' Compensation Commission from 2003-09 and on the Public Service Commission from 2009-15, according to his resume.
Metro on 10/09/2017