Arkansas

Arkansas deputy attorney general named deputy solicitor general | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Published

1 year ago

May 7, 2025

Arkansas deputy attorney general named deputy solicitor general | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has promoted Noah Watson — who was deputy attorney general over the attorney general’s Opinions & Freedom of Information Act Division for more than a year — to deputy solicitor general, Griffin announced Tuesday.

The Republican attorney general said he’s pleased to announce that Watson “will join our excellent Solicitor General team as Deputy Solicitor General.”

“In February, I hired Autumn Patterson as our new Solicitor General, and the addition of Noah to this team makes it one of the best in the country,” Griffin said.

In March, Patterson, the former special assistant solicitor general in the Louisiana attorney general’s office, started work for the Arkansas attorney general’s office and filled the vacancy created at the end of December, after then-Solicitor General Nicholas Bronni was appointed to a two-year term on the Arkansas Supreme Court by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

In 2023, Watson started working in the attorney general’s office in its Special Litigation Section before being promoted to deputy attorney general over Opinions & FOIA, Griffin said.

On Tuesday, Griffin said Watson’s skills in research, writing and advocacy will now be at the state’s service in his new role as he takes on appellate cases at both the state and national levels.

“I love seeing the talented people in my office grow and take on new challenges, and I know Noah will excel as Deputy Solicitor General the way he has in his previous roles,” Griffin said.

Griffin spokesman Jeff LeMaster said Wednesday that Watson’s salary is $183,999.92 a year and Dylan Jacobs, Watson’s predecessor as deputy solicitor general, had the same salary.

LeMaster added that Watson’s salary has not changed with the move to deputy solicitor general.

Griffin said Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Summerside will serve as the acting head of the Opinions & FOIA Division.

LeMaster also said Summerside’s salary of $153,999.87 a year is not changing.

Before joining the attorney general’s office, Watson was an associate attorney at Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC in Little Rock, according to the attorney general’s office. Before that, he served as a law clerk for Judge Lavenski Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Watson graduated from Harding University and the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

The Office of Solicitor General is responsible for handling Arkansas’ appellate and high-profile national litigation, helping shape both state and national jurisprudence, according to the attorney general’s office.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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