Joint Statement from President Pro Tempore Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr. and Speaker Matthew Shepherd
NEWS RELEASE
JOINT STATEMENT FROM SENATE PRO TEMPORE HICKEY AND HOUSE SPEAKER SHEPHERD
Little Rock, Arkansas (August 13, 2021) –
Arkansas Senate Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey and Arkansas House Speaker Matthew
Shepherd released the following statement Friday afternoon regarding McClane, et al v.
State of Arkansas, et al :
“Today we jointly retained the law firm of Dover Dixon Horne, PLLC to represent us in
our official capacities as the leaders of the Arkansas General Assembly in the pending
litigation.
We have conferred with the Attorney General and her staff as we evaluated how best to
proceed. We appreciate their representation of us to this point. However, given the
number of parties and the potential for multiple conflicts, we believe our interests in this
case are best served through retaining separate counsel.
While we understand there are many different opinions as to the specific legislation at
issue, the important role of the legislative branch must be preserved among our three,
separate but equal, branches of government.”