Kelley J. Linck (born November 10, 1963) is a partner, lobbyist and consultant with WSG Consulting, LLC in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. He was formerly with Mullenix and Associates, LLC in Little Rock and previously served as the chief of legislative and governmental affairs for the

Arkansas Department of Human Services The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) is a state agency of Arkansas, headquartered in Donaghey Plaza South of the Donaghey Complex, a five-story building on the southwest corner of Main Street and 7th Street, in Little Rock. The DHS ...

in the capital city of

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, Arkansas. Before this, Linck was a tourism official in Yellville in Marion County in northern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and a Republican former member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

. He represented District 99, encompassing parts of Marion, Searcy, Boone, and Baxter counties, from 2013 to June 3, 2016. Linck previously represented District 86, held by Democrat

Greg Leding Greg Leding (born April 10, 1978) is a Democratic politician who has represented the Fayetteville area in the Arkansas General Assembly since 2011. He served as minority leader in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2012 to 2014 and cur ...

of Fayetteville, from 2011 to 2013.

Political life

Linck resigned from the Arkansas House of Representatives on June 3, 2016 to join the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services. In September 2019, Linck announced that he would be stepping down from his post at Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services effective October 4, 2019 to allow him to take a position with Little Rock lobbying firm Mullenix & Associates. Mullenix & Associates are based in Little Rock and assist corporate clients (e.g. Blue Cross & Blue Shield) who serve Medicaid recipients in Arkansas. It was not immediately clear whether Linck's new position with the lobbying firm Mullenix & Associates would represent a conflict of interest in view of his previous position with the state's Department of Human Services. Chief Counsel David Sterling suggested that Linck should avoid all involvement with cases involving clients of Mullenix & Associates during his remaining tenure with the state (through October 4, 2019). Further, 2015 Arkansas Code § 19-11-709 places restrictions on the employment of former employees and has been cited in this case as well as another concurrent case of another Arkansas DHS official who is leaving for private sector employment. § 19-11-709 prohibits a state employee from acting "as a principal or as an agent for anyone other than the state" in connection with any matter in which the employee participates "personally and substantially." The law also prohibits former employees and partners of former employees from being involved as a "principal or agent for anyone other than the state" regarding any state contract in which that employee provided "decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise while an employee." The law also bars former state employees for one year from acting for a private company in connection with contracts that were within the person's "official responsibility" while employed by the state. It is unclear whether Linck was quoted as promising to "have that discussion" with his new employers once he begins his tenure with them. Legislators in Arkansas face a two-year cooling off period before becoming lobbyists. Linck left his previous position as a Legislator in June 2016 to work for the Department of Human Services until October 2019, when he became a lobbyist. On April 18, 2022 WSG Consulting, LLC announced Linck had joined the firm as a partner. WSG was founded by former Speaker of the House Robbie Wills and also includes former Speaker Bill Stovall, Dana Wills, C.P.A. and former legislator Rick Green.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linck, Kelley 1963 births Living people People from Marion County, Arkansas Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Arkansas Tech University alumni Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly 20th-century Methodists 21st-century Methodists American United Methodists