Senator Ricky Hill of Cabot represents District 11, which includes parts of Lonoke and Pulaski County.
Senator Hill is the chair of the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee. He is a member of the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, the Joint Performance Review Committee, the Senate Efficiency Committee, the Joint Budget Committee and the Arkansas Legislative Council.
During the 94th General Assembly, Senator Hill sponsored legislation to create the position of Dementia Services Coordinator within the Department of Health, to prevent tax funds from being used to pay student athletes, to promote a state funded medical school and to create a lifetime license as a contractor.
During the 2021 regular session Senator Hill sponsored legislation to establish a day of prayer for Arkansas students, and to allow government entities to issue bonds for broadband infrastructure. He also sponsored Act 135 of 2021 to help military members and their spouses who hold an occupational license to more easily transfer their licenses so they can work in Arkansas.
In past sessions, Senator Hill co-sponsored legislation to raise teacher salaries, fund 911 emergency response systems and modernize the practice of optometry.
Senator Hill grew up in rural Lonoke County on his parents’ farm. He helped with the farming and the family’s residential construction business. He graduated from Cabot High School and earned a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Business and Economics from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
As a young man, he joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and competed on the professional rodeo circuit as a professional bull rider for four years. During that time he married his wife, Cynthia, who was a professional barrel racer.
After a professional rodeo career, he returned to Cabot. He was hired by SF Services and was the company’s youngest general manager. For 10 years he managed three stores in central Arkansas before moving into banking.
He now is an Executive Vice President with Bank OZK, and he continues to operate his family farm. He and Cynthia own residential rental property, which she manages.
Prior to his election to the legislature, Senator Hill served on the Cabot School Board from 2012 through 2017 and was School Board President for a year. He was in the Cabot Chamber of Commerce, where he is a former Secretary, and Lonoke County CASA, where he is a former board member.
Senator Hill is a founding board member of Keep the Faith Foundation and is an honorary member of Cabot Rotary, Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council, Ducks Unlimited and the NRA. He and his family attend Lonoke Baptist Church.
He and Cynthia have two children. Their son Glenn is a Lieutenant and Aviator in the U.S. Navy, and daughter Julie is an attorney at a firm in Little Rock.
