Andrew "Vu" Ritchie has resigned as chief legal counsel for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, saying he has been presented with professional opportunities outside of state government over the past couple of weeks, and it's important for him to have "clarity of mind" as he fully considers all of his options.
In a letter dated Tuesday to "Team SHS," he wrote that he submitted his official letter of resignation to Sanders, which was effective as of March 17.
"I will be forever grateful to Governor Sanders for allowing me to serve as the general counsel on her historic campaign, as the deputy director of the Transition Office of the Governor-elect and as the Chief Legal Counsel of her official gubernatorial staff," Ritchie said.
"Although my work here has concluded, I remain fully supportive of the Governor as she advances her agenda and charts a new course for Arkansas," he wrote.
Ritchie said he has every intention of maintaining the relationships he made in the governor's office, will always consider himself to be a member of "Team SHS," and stands ready to assist the team in any way he can.
He previously served as senior adviser for domestic policy for U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, senior adviser in the office of Administrator Seema Verma at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in the Trump administration, and senior adviser to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
As chief legal counsel in Sanders' office, Ritchie was paid $150,000 a year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
In his resignation letter to Sanders, Ritchie wrote that he considers holding the chief legal counsel position in Sanders' administration as a high honor and he will forever be grateful to her for the opportunity.
"As I move onto the next chapter in my professional life, I am confident that our paths will cross frequently throughout your tenure as our Governor," he said.
"While I am looking forward to those occasions, I am mostly looking forward to having the opportunity to continue our longtime relationship, which I cherish so dearly above everything else," Ritchie wrote. "Continue the good fight, Governor. I, along with the entire of State of Arkansas, are counting on you."
Sanders spokeswoman Alexa Henning said Tuesday night that "The governor appreciates Vu's service and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors."
Ritchie's departure from Sanders' office comes after the Republican governor signed her educational overhaul legislation March 8. Act 237 of 2023 will raise the state's minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 a year, create Educational Freedom Accounts to help students attend private schools, parochial schools or to home school, and enact many other changes in the state's education system.
The Arkansas General Assembly is currently amid a spring break recess.
State lawmakers are scheduled to return to the state Capitol to resume work in the regular session Monday with legislative leaders hoping to wrap up the session by April 7. Sanders' two other top priorities in the regular session are a public safety overhaul and income tax cuts.
State lawmakers also must enact a Revenue Stabilization Act to prioritize the distribution of state general revenue to state-supported programs in fiscal 2024 that begins July 1, determine what to do with at least $1.3 billion in general revenue surplus funds, and decide whether to refer up to three proposed constitutional amendments for voters to consider in the 2024 general election.