State public safety attorney moving to Sanders campaign

Cody Hiland, chief counsel for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, has been hired by Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ campaign.

The campaign also announced Wednesday the hiring of Andrew “Vu” Ritchie, a former senior adviser for U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton.

“Cody and Vu are talented and highly respected for their accomplishments and experiences in the political, policy, and legal fields at the local, state, and federal levels,” Sanders said in a news release.

Hiland, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, will resign from his state position today, according to a resignation letter sent to the Department of Public Safety dated Sept. 1. He noted in the letter that he’d accepted a position in the private sector.

“It has been an honor to serve the exceptional men and women of this department over the last year, and I wish you nothing but success as you lead this organization,” Hiland said in the letter addressed to Secretary of Public Safety A.J. Gary.

Gary, who has held the office a few weeks, said he’s worked with Hiland in multiple positions throughout the years. That includes when Gary was a police chief and Hiland a prosecutor.

“Nothing but good things to say about him,” Gary said. “I’ve worked with him for a few weeks here and wish him nothing but the best in his next chapter.”

Hiland was hired as the Department of Public Safety’s chief counsel in June 2021 by then-Secretary Jami Cook. Cook resigned citing heath issues Aug. 5, according to a news release from Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Cook received criticism at the time for seeking legislative approval to create his position after he was hired. A legislative panel approved his hiring and the renaming of an existing position to chief legal counsel after his hiring was already announced publicly, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported previously.

Hiland was hired in at $ 137,000. The salary came from the vacant position for director of the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training.

Sanders also announced in March that Hiland would be a leadership member of her Law Enforcement for Sarah Coalition.

Hiland served as U.S. attorney from 2017-2020 after being appointed to the position by President Donald J. Trump. He previously was the prosecuting attorney for the 20th Judicial District and Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties.

He also served as a legislative and legal aid to former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Ritchie served Cotton as the senior adviser on domestic policy. He also previously worked with the Trump administrations at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid as the senior adviser in the office of Administrator Seema Verma, the release said.

Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., the Little Rock native worked as legal counsel and senior adviser to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.