Senator Ricky Hill of Cabot represents District 11, which includes parts of Lonoke and Pulaski County.
Senator Hill is co-chair of the Joint Budget Committee, chair of the Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Game and Fish / State Police Subcommittee. He is a member of the Senate Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs Committee, the Joint Energy Committee, the Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee, the Arkansas Legislative Council, the Administrative Rules Subcommittee, the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee. Senator Hill is the Majority Whip of the 94th General Assembly.
Senator Hill has previously served as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development.
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, 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 transferring 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 involved with 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 an Officer and Aviator for the U.S. Navy, and daughter Julie is a third year Law Student at Bowen School of Law in Little Rock.
