Jeremy Young Hutchinson (born March 4, 1974) is a
Republican politician and a former member of the
Arkansas State Senate for District 33 in the capital city of
Little Rock,
Arkansas. He served in the
Arkansas House of Representatives
The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...
from two different districts in
Pulaski County between 2000 and 2007 and as a state senator from 2011 to his resignation in 2018.
Political career
Hutchinson was first elected to the Arkansas House in March 2000, as representative of Arkansas District 31,
Pulaski County. At the time he was the youngest member of the Arkansas House. He was re-elected three times and served on the House Judiciary and Insurance and Commerce committees. He was the vice-chair of the Joint Energy Committee and the assistant minority leader from 2002 to 2004.
On August 4, 2009, Hutchinson announced his intent to run for the Arkansas State Senate from District 22, Pulaski County. On May 18, 2010, he defeated
Dan Greenberg
Daniel Greenberg (born December 9, 1965) is an American nonprofit executive and former politician. He is a former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, who served from 2006 through 2011. Greenberg, who lives in Little Ro ...
, son of the columnist
Paul Greenberg, in the Republican primary, 58 to 42 percent. On November 2, 2010, Hutchinson defeated
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
nominee Dawn Creekmore to claim the District 22 Senate seat. He was re-elected in 2013.
Jeremy Hutchinson was named to ''
Arkansas Business
Arkansas Business Publishing Group is a magazine and newspaper publisher based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. The company produces a variety of annual, biannual, monthly and weekly publications for various niche audiences in the state, i ...
's'' "40 under 40" in 2002. He served on the board of the Arkansas Council on Economic Education. His biography states that in 2005, he was voted "Best Conservative" by readers of the ''
Arkansas Times''.
Conviction and Resignation
On August 31, 2018, the Department of Justice announced that Hutchinson was indicted by a federal
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
on 12 wire and tax fraud charges. Hutchinson resigned his office the same day.
He faces "eight counts of wire fraud for spending the campaign funds on personal expenses and falsifying campaign reports and four counts of filing false tax returns from 2011 to 2014."
On June 25, 2019, Hutchinson pleaded guilty to "accepting multiple bribes and tax fraud in connection with a multi-district investigation spanning the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas and the Western District of Missouri."
Family and personal life
Hutchinson and his identical twin brother
Timothy Chad Hutchinson
Timothy Chad Hutchinson (born March 4, 1974) is an attorney in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who is a Republican former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 95 in Benton County. He was initially elected in 2004, two years ...
are the sons of former
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Tim Hutchinson and nephews of the
Governor of Arkansas
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
,
Asa Hutchinson. Timothy Chad Hutchinson represented District 95, Benton County, from 2005 to 2011.
Hutchinson is a nephew by marriage of former state senator
Kim Hendren
Kim Dexter Hendren (born February 6, 1938) is an American engineer and politician. He served as a Democratic and Republican member for the 6th and 9th districts of the Arkansas Senate. Hendren also served a member of the 1st and 92nd districts ...
of
Gravette, Benton County. Kim Hendren's son
Jim Hendren
James Paul Hendren (born August 12, 1963) is an American politician serving as a member of the Arkansas Senate from the 2nd district. From January 2019 to January 2021, he also served as Senate Majority Leader. Until February 2021, he was a Repub ...
, District 2 state senator from Benton County and the senate majority leader, is Hutchinson's cousin.
In 2006, Hutchinson's mother,
Donna Jean King Hutchinson of
Bella Vista, Arkansas, was elected to the state House from District 98 in
Benton County. She served four two-year terms.
Hutchinson and his former wife were divorced in 2011. He and his former spouse both used alternate forms of their names in that filing; he filed for divorce under his middle name, "Young Hutchinson." On September 4, 2012, Hutchinson's ex-girlfriend, Julie McGee, was arrested for third-degree domestic battery at Hutchinson's Chenal Woods condominium in Little Rock after she hit Hutchinson with a preserved alligator head and left him with a bleeding wound. According to journalist Max Brantley, McGee had said that she had a financial support agreement with Hutchinson. Shortly thereafter, Hutchinson formally requested that the prosecuting attorney drop the battery charges so that he could "move on without any further embarrassment.
In 2013, Hutchinson participated in "active shooter" training and mistakenly shot a teacher with a rubber bullet who was confronting a so-called "bad guy". The experience gave Hutchinson "some pause" but failed to shake his confidence in the training plan.
["School Districts Hope to Keep Security Licenses", '' Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' August 28, 2013.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Jeremy
1974 births
Living people
Republican Party Arkansas state senators
Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives
American bankers
American lobbyists
American prosecutors
Blackfoot people
Native American state legislators
University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumni
Identical twins
American twins
Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas
21st-century American politicians
Hutchinson family
Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas politicians convicted of crimes