Arkansas

Jack Wagoner, attorney who challenged Arkansas' same-sex marriage ban, dies

Published

2 years ago

April 25, 2024

Jack Wagoner, attorney who challenged Arkansas' same-sex marriage ban, dies

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Attorney Jack Wagoner, who helped successfully challenge Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriage before state and federal courts, has died. He was 62.

Wagoner died in Little Rock on Tuesday, said Bruce Tennant, an attorney who worked with him at his law firm. Tennant said a cause of death was not yet known.

Wagoner represented same-sex couples who challenged a constitutional amendment that Arkansas voters put in the state’s constitution in 2004 defining marriage as between a man and a woman. A state judge in 2014 struck down the amendment as unconstitutional, which led to more than 500 same-sex couples marrying before the Arkansas Supreme Court put the ruling on hold.

The state Supreme Court didn’t rule on whether the ban was constitutional before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide in 2015. A federal judge also struck down Arkansas’ ban, but put her ruling on hold.

At the time of the rulings, Wagoner predicted that gay marriage would eventually be legal nationwide.

“It’s pretty clear where history’s heading on this issue,” Wagoner said.

Cheryl Maples, an attorney who had also represented the couples, died in 2019.

Tennant said the same-sex marriage case was an example of the types he focused on. Wagoner had also working on cases involving nursing home neglect and abuse.

“He always wanted to fight for the little guy,” Tennant said.

Wagoner was also one of the attorneys who represented a divorced Arkansas man who had been prohibited from having overnight visitation with his child in the presence of his long-term domestic partner. The state Supreme Court in 2013 reversed that decision.

Wagoner is survived by his wife and two daughters.

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Arkansas

Arkansas State defeats Texas State 83-82

Published

12 hours ago

January 10, 2026

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Arkansas

One more list of wishes for Arkansas in 2026 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

24 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

One more list of wishes for Arkansas in 2026 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Rex Nelson

rnelson@adgnewsroom.com

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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Arkansas

USA Truck returns to private Arkansas-based ownership | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

2 days ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

USA Truck returns to private Arkansas-based ownership | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Dylan Sherman

dsherman@nwaonline.com

Dylan Sherman is a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He is based in Northwest Arkansas and focuses on Tyson Foods Inc. and the transportation industry. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he has been with the newspaper since 2023.

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