Tommy Robinson, a former U.S. congressman who captured attention while serving as an Arkansas sheriff, using tactics that included chaining inmates outside a state prison to protest overcrowding, died July 10 at a hospital in Forrest City, Ark. He was 82.
Arkansas
Tommy Robinson, Arkansas sheriff and congressman, dies at 82
Mr. Robinson was first elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984, representing a district that included Little Rock and central Arkansas. He switched parties and became a Republican in 1989 before losing the GOP primary for governor the following year.
But it was Mr. Robinson’s actions and comments during his years as Pulaski County sheriff that gained him national attention. He was elected to the post in 1980 after serving as state director of public safety.
He had complained about a backlog of state inmates being held in the county’s jail and in 1981 had a group of them chained to a gate outside an Arkansas prison.
“The bottom line is, I’m not going to keep state prisoners,” he said at the time. “It’s their problem, not mine.”
Mr. Robinson also clashed with prosecutors and judges during his time as sheriff. He was jailed by a federal judge for contempt for two days after kicking out a special master appointed to oversee conditions at the jail.
Following a string of robberies, Mr. Robinson had deputies hide randomly at convenience stores armed with shotguns to deter would-be robbers.
During his time in Congress, Mr. Robinson aligned with the “boll weevil” bloc of conservative southern Democrats who voted for many of President Ronald Reagan’s policies. When he switched parties in 1989, Arkansas was a predominantly Democratic state, but Mr. Robinson complained that the party had become too liberal.
Mr. Robinson ran for the GOP nomination for governor in 1990, hoping to unseat Gov. Bill Clinton (D). He was defeated by Sheffield Nelson in the Republican primary, and Nelson lost to Clinton that fall. Clinton was elected president in 1992.
Tommy Franklin Robinson was born in Little Rock on March 7, 1942. Early in his career, he served with the North Little Rock Police Department, the Arkansas State Police and the U.S. Marshal Service.
Mr. Robinson remained in the news in the years after leaving Congress. In 1992, he was named as the worst offender in an overdraft scandal involving the House bank. The bank closed in 1991.
Over a 16-month period, he wrote 996 checks on insufficient funds, overdrafts that totaled more than $250,000. A Justice Department report later said no one would be prosecuted for the overdrafts because it was bank policy to routinely honor checks written on insufficient funds.
Mr. Robinson was appointed to the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission and the Parole Board by Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).
Mr. Robinson ran as the Republican nominee in 2002 for the 1st Congressional District in eastern Arkansas and lost to incumbent Marion Berry, a Democrat, in the general election.
A list of survivors was not immediately available.
Arkansas
OPINION | WALLY HALL: Arkansas will need more than Robinson’s coerced contribution | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Wally Hall
Wally Hall is assistant managing sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock after an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he is a member and past president of the Football Writers Association of America, member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, past president and current executive committee and board member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has been awarded Arkansas Sportswriter of the Year 10 times and has been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and Arkansas Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame.
Will Garrett Nussmeier’s size hold him back in the NFL?
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier will look to impress scouts at the NFL Combine despite size concerns.
Move over, Anthony Richardson. There’s a new quarterback athletic marvel at the NFL scouting combine.
On Saturday in Indianapolis, Arkansas’ Taylen Green broke Richardson’s top marks at the position since 2003 for both the vertical leap and broad jump. Green’s 43½-inch vertical topped Richardson’s previous high by three inches, while his 11-2 broad jump beat the Indianapolis Colts signal-caller’s measurement by five inches.
Then, Green reeled off a 4.36-second 40-yard dash time. That stood as the second-best time for any quarterback since 2003, trailing only Reggie McNeal in 2006 (4.35 seconds). Richardson, for comparison, logged a 4.43-second mark in 2023.
Green didn’t even bother with a second attempt after his initial time.
The testing profile created quite the stir around the 6-6, 227-pound passer, who had widely projected as a developmental option for teams on Day 3.
NFL Network’s Charles Davis said Green told him that no teams had approached him about working out as a receiver, adding that he would not be interested in a position switch.
Green started for the Razorbacks for the last two seasons after playing the first three years of his career at Boise State. Known for his running ability and ample arm strength, Green threw for 2,714 yards and 19 touchdowns last year while adding 777 yards and eight scores on the ground.
It was a banner day for Arkansas, as running back Mike Washington Jr. also stood out among his peers with a group-leading 4.33-second 40-yard dash as well as strong marks in the vertical leap (39 inches) and broad jump (10-8).
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson has been senior editor and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2017, and he has a biweekly podcast called “Southern Fried.”
After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in 1981, he was a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat for a year before becoming editor of Arkadelphia’s Daily Siftings Herald. He was the youngest editor of a daily in Arkansas at age 23. Rex was then news and sports director at KVRC-KDEL from 1983-1985.
He returned to the Democrat as assistant sports editor in 1985. From 1986-1989, he was its Washington correspondent. He left to be Jackson T. Stephens’ consultant.
Rex became the Democrat-Gazette’s first political editor in 1992, but left in 1996 to join then-Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office. He also served from 2005-09 in the administration of President George W. Bush.
From 2009-2018, he worked stints at the Communications Group, Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities, and Simmons First National Corp.
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