Arkansas Senate | President Pro Tem Jack Critcher

Agencies | Online Services | Policies


Home About the Arkansas Senate President Pro Tem Senate Chamber The Senators Senate Officers Weekly Review Senate Events Photo Gallery Related Links

Contact Information: Arkansas Senate Room 320 State Capitol Little Rock, AR 72201 In Session Phone: 501-682-2902 Out of Session Phone: 501-682-6107

President Pro Tempore: Senator Jack Critcher

When his colleagues in the Senate chose Jack Critcher to be the President Pro Tempore of the 86th General Assembly, they elected a man with valuable legislative experience.

A senator since 1999, he served in the House or Representatives for two terms. Before he was elected to the state legislature in 1994, he was mayor of the town of Grubbs. He also was on the city council for six years and the school board of the Grubbs School District for five years.

Jack spent most of his life in Grubbs, in Jackson County, where he graduated from Grubbs High School. After attending ASU-Beebe, he bought a grocery store and later built a restaurant, which he ran with his wife, Vickie. Serving in the legislature took too much of his time away from the store, so he got into the insurance business in 1994. Now, Jack runs his own insurance agency in Batesville, where he and Vickie live with their son, Jacob.

Senator Jack Critcher
President Pro Tempore

During his Senate career he has served on the Revenue and Taxation Committee and the Committee on Agriculture and Economic Development. He has chaired the Committee on City, County and Local Affairs. He is the immediate past chairman of the Legislative Council.

Since 2003 he has been chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor. During the 86th General Assembly he also will be a member of the Insurance and Commerce Committee, as well as the Joint Budget Committee and the Legislative Council. As President Pro Tempore, he also is granted a seat on the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee.

In 2001 Senator Critcher was named Legislator of the Year by the Arkansas Municipal League for his consistent support of cities and towns. Also in 2001, the Arkansas Prosecutors Association honored him with their Legislator of the Year award, in recognition of his work against methamphetamine abuse.

In 2005 the Municipal League honored Senator Critcher again when it chose him as one of the year's Outstanding Legislators. The Arkansas Environmental Federation is another organization that has honored Senator Critcher with the designation of Legislator of the Year.

His fight against methamphetamine goes well beyond simply enforcing stricter laws against the manufacture, sale and use of illegal drugs. He and Vickie are also knowledgeable and active in rehabilitation and treatment efforts.

Senator Critcher's legislative agenda includes making sure that state government complies with constitutional mandates to adequately fund public schools. He is a strong supporter of the Medicaid program, which provides health care services for hundreds of thousands of needy Arkansans. Also on his list of legislative priorities are financial support of higher education, and the diversification of economic development into more rural and isolated areas of Arkansas.

Jack and Vickie have two daughters, Jaclyn Goldman and Danica Smith, and a son, Jacob. They have a one-and-a-half year old granddaughter, Avery Drew Goldman.