Herbert C. Rule III (1935/1936 – April 3, 2023) was an American politician and lawyer who was a 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 ...

Early life

Rule was born 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 the second of three children.

Education and military service

Attending Little Rock schools he graduated from Central High School in 1955, receiving an

NROTC The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 1924 ...

scholarship to attend

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1959. Herb entered active duty as a Marine with the

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry division ...

serving in the Far East. After his tour of duty, he served an additional six years in the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedi ...

while attending the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

at Fayetteville where he graduated third in his class in 1964 with his juris doctor and passing the Arkansas Bar in the same year.

Advocacies

Long time advocate for homeless veterans and has been active over the years as noted in th
Fall 2008 Justice Report
and more recently from the February 29 meeting regarding the
Veterans' Home
on Main Street in Little Rock.
Stands on marriage equality.

Career

As a member of

Rose Law Firm Rose Law Firm is an American law firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It dates its origins to November 1, 1820, sixteen years before Arkansas statehood, when Robert Crittenden, born 1797, and Chester Ashley, born 1791, entered into an a ...

from 1964 to 2012, Herb practiced law in the areas of utility rate regulation, environmental, labor, bankruptcy, real estate and commercial lending and litigation, oil and gas, and eminent domain. In his 48-year legal career, Herb has tried over 100 trials, 65 appeals and has appeared before the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction ...

. Rule was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1966 when he defeated Paul Van Dalsem. In addition to his legal career and political career, Rule has farmed soybeans, rice and corn near

Keo, Arkansas Keo is a town in southwest Lonoke County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 256 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Keo had its start as a ship ...

; has been a real estate developer; co-owned a restaurant; and was a board member and stockholder of a plywood startup company in the

Arkansas delta The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of ''The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox'', says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep ...

. His public service includes serving two terms in the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 1 ...

and six years on the Little Rock School Board where he led the school modernization.

Death

Rule died on April 3, 2023, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule, Herb C. III 1930s births 2023 deaths Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives People from Little Rock, Arkansas