Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr., of Texarkana represents District 4 of southwest Arkansas. District 4 includes Howard, Little River, Miller and Sevier Counties and part of Hempstead County. He was elected in 2012 and took the oath of office on the first day of the 2013 legislative session.
Senator Hickey chairs the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. He is a member of the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee, the Joint Energy Committee, the Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee, the Joint Budget Committee and the Arkansas Legislative Council.
Senator Hickey’s colleagues elected him as President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the 93rd General Assembly, from 2021 through 2022.
One of Senator Hickey’s legislative priorities is to ensure that the lottery scholarship program remains financially stable, and that all of its operations are transparent and its officials are accountable. He is at the table when lawmakers consider changes in eligibility criteria for scholarships, and in past sessions Senator Hickey served as co-chair of the Arkansas Lottery Commission Joint Legislative Oversight Committee.
In 2025 Senator Hickey was the Senate sponsor of legislation that added protections of the mother’s life in the Arkansas Human Life Protection Act and the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act.
In 2021, Senator Hickey sponsored a 45-page bill (Act 63 of 2021) to make the Arkansas Lottery Scholarship more financially stable. His bill guarantees sufficient funding of scholarships program so that students receive what they are promised. The act also strengthens legislative oversight of the Arkansas Lottery Scholarship program.
During the 2019 session, Senator Hickey took the lead in the legislature’s work on the longest bill filed in Arkansas history (Act 910 of 2019), a far-reaching transformation of state government’s structure. It was more than 2,000 pages long. Senator Hickey read it line by line and his contributions restored checks and balances between executive and legislative branches of state government.
Senator Hickey formerly served as Senate co-chair of the Joint Committee on Legislative Auditing, and as Senate co-chair of the Joint Performance Review Committee. In those roles he led legislative efforts to uncover and correct the causes of Henderson State University’s financial troubles.
Senator Hickey is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a member of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC.)
From 2004-2010, Senator Hickey served on the Texarkana School Board, where he rose to vice-president and president. He was a banker for 25 years and retired from Commercial National Bank as senior vice president. Currently his business interests include rental and real estate investments.
A native of Texarkana, Senator Hickey received his Bachelor of Business Administration from East Texas State University. He is married to Denise and they have a son.
Senator Hickey and his wife are members of Trinity Baptist Church.
