Johnson appointed to ethics commission

Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin appointed a Springdale attorney, Wendy Johnson, to the five-member Arkansas Ethics Commission, Griffin announced Tuesday.

Johnson, a partner at the Springdale office of RMP LLP, will replace ethics commissioner Ashley Driver Younger of Little Rock and serve a five-year term that begins Jan. 1, the Republican lieutenant governor said in a news release.

“Wendy’s broad range of legal experience and community involvement will be beneficial to the Arkansas Ethics Commission,” Griffin said. “I congratulate Wendy, and I am thankful for her willingness to use her skills and experience to serve our state in this position.

“I am thankful to Ashley Driver Younger for her outstanding service and leadership on the Arkansas Ethics Commission,” he said.

Younger, a claims attorney for Stephens Insurance, was appointed by Griffin. She has served on the commission since January 2016.

The Ethics Commission was established in 1991 with the passage of Initiated Act of 1990. It enforces certain state laws on ethics, conflicts of interest, lobbying, campaigning, campaign finance and ballot questions.

Griffin said in an interview that Johnson’s background dealing with white-collar crime and corruption will be beneficial to the commission.

Johnson said in the news release that she “will approach all aspects of my appointment with careful consideration and due diligence.”

She said in an interview that she agreed to serve on the commission because she believes attorneys are called on to do more than make money and this appointment is a way to serve the state of Arkansas.

“I wasn’ t g iven any marching orders,” Johnson said. She said she and Griffin have mutual friends who recommended her for the appointment.

As a partner at the Springdale office of RMP LLP, she co- leads the investigations and corporate compliance practice area, where she advises clients in all significant areas of governmental investigations, compliance, white collar crime, large-scale corporate internal investigations and complex tax investigations, according to the lieutenant governor’s office.

Prior to joining RMP LLP, Johnson spent more than 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney. She previously was a state deputy prosecuting attorney for more than seven years in Sebastian and Logan counties. She is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.

The other four ethics commissioners are attorney Denese Fletcher of Little Rock; attorney Scott Irby of Little Rock; Alice Eastwood of Rogers, senior director of international ethics at Walmart; and Lori Klein of Searcy, who is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Harding University.

The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, Senate president pro tempore and House speaker each make appointments to the Ethics Commission under state law.