Lawman up for marshal post
State police captain is nominated to lead Eastern District
An Arkansas State Police captain was nominated Tuesday by President Donald Trump to serve as the next U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the White House announced.
In December, Trump announced his intention to nominate Michael Allen Hagar, commander of the Highway Patrol Division of Troop A, to the four-year position that was vacated in January 2018 by the retirement of Chip Massanelli, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Matthew Wester, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said Tuesday that the nomination has now been sent to the Senate. It will first be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and, if approved, will be put to a vote by the full U.S. Senate.
Massanelli, a Pine Bluff native who had been a deputy U.S. marshal for 27 years when he took over the chief federal law enforcement position, has been replaced in the interim by his chief deputy, Jay Tuck. Tuck said Tuesday that Massanelli still works for the marshal’s service periodically on a contract basis.
Hagar has been with the state police since 1996 and serves on the Arkansas State Police Association’s executive board. Before commanding Troop A, the largest field command in the agency, he was commander of the State Police Executive Protection Section and the training division.
Boozman has called Hagar “a devoted public servant who has demonstrated his commitment to law enforcement in his well-established career with the Arkansas State Police.”
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in December that “I look forward to his confirmation in the Senate.”
Founded in 1789, the U.S. Marshals Service provides security at federal courthouses for judges, lawyers and juries, and investigates and pursues federal fugitives. The agency also runs the federal witness-protection program, runs federal prisoner programs and manages forfeited assets under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Program.
On Tuesday, the White House sent Hagar’s nomination to the Senate alongside nominations to fill three other U.S. marshal positions in Michigan, New York and West Virginia, as well as nominations for seven federal judgeships. The judgeships are in Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Illinois, Texas, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.