Hiland sworn in as the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Cody Hiland of Conway, a former prosecuting attorney , was sworn in Tuesday as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Hiland, 45, was nominated by President Donald Trump on June 29 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Sept. 28. He began work Tuesday after taking the oath of office from U.S. District Judge
Leon Holmes.
“It is both an honor and a privilege to be chosen to serve as the United States Attorney, and I am eager to begin leading the important work of this office,” Hiland said in a news release issued later in the afternoon. “I also look forward to working with the dedicated public servants in our office, our exceptional law enforcement partners on the federal, state and local levels, and the community.”
As U.S. attorney, Hiland is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Eastern District of Arkansas, which includes five divisions and 41 counties. Its primary office is in Little Rock. Hiland oversees 59 employees, including 28 attorneys and 31 support personnel.
The U.S. attorney’s office prosecutes federal crimes throughout the district and defends the United States in civil cases. It also collects debts owed to the government.
Hiland, originally from Bee Branch, received his law degree in 2002 from the W.H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and his undergraduate degree from the University of Central Arkansas. He served six years as the prosecuting attorney for Faulkner, Searcy and Van Buren counties, having been first elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
Hiland’s nomination was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate after he received the backing of the state’s two Republican U.S. senators — John Boozman of Rogers and Tom Cotton of Dardanelle.
Hiland was previously a partner at Hiland, Thomas & Cox; a staff attorney and rural and community liaison for the Arkansas Public Service Commission; program director for the Arkansas Transitional Employment Board; and a legislative liaison and aide to former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
He will continue to live in Conway with his wife, Jana, and their four children, Claire, Caity, John Reagan, and Ethan.
He succeeds acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris, a career prosecutor in the Eastern District who took over the position after the forced resignation on March 13 of Christopher Thyer, an appointee of President Barack Obama. Thyer was among numerous U.S. attorneys appointed under the Democratic administration who were forced to resign after Trump was elected.