Interim chief named for alcohol enforcer
William Olson, an attorney for Arkansas Tobacco Control, is the new interim director of state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division after the second departure of the agency’s director to Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office in the past three months.
Olson started as the agency’s interim director last week and his salary increases from $78,284.54 to $96,960 a year in his new post, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration.
Doralee Chandler served as the ABC division’s director from 2018 until mid-February before her appointment by Griffin as deputy attorney general in the attorney general’s office for the state agencies division. Michael Lewis was subsequently appointed as the ABC division’s interim director succeeding Chandler.
Lewis started last week as an assistant attorney general in the attorney general’s office for the state agencies division with a salary of $101,174.94 a year, said attorney general spokesman Jeff LeMaster. Lewis was paid $96,960 a year as the interim ABC division director.
The ABC division director is appointed by the governor along with the administrator of the Regulatory Division, Hardin said. The Regulatory Division includes ABC administration, ABC enforcement, Tobacco Control, the Racing Commission and the Medical Marijuana Commission.
In a letter dated May 4 to Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Larry Walther, Regulatory Division Administrator Mike Moore wrote that he has been planning on retiring from state employment this year. He is a former Boone County sheriff and county judge whose appointment as Regulatory Division administrator started in April 2020.
“While it has been a honor to serve, I believe it will be best for me and my family to schedule my retirement date for July 1, 2023,” he wrote in his letter. “This would make my last day of employment June 30, 2023. This date was a decision based on retirement benefits, apartment lease expiration and other personal commitments.”