Jeremy Young Hutchinson (born March 4, 1974) is a former politician and convicted felon. A Republican, he served in the

Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

for District 33 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 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 ...

. He served in 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 ...

from two different districts in Pulaski County between 2000 and 2007 and as a state senator from 2011 to his resignation in 2018.

Political career

Hutchinson was first elected to the Arkansas House in March 2000, as representative of Arkansas District 31, Pulaski County. At the time he was the youngest member of the Arkansas House. He was re-elected three times and served on the House Judiciary and Insurance and Commerce committees. He was the vice-chair of the Joint Energy Committee and the assistant minority leader from 2002 to 2004. On August 4, 2009, Hutchinson announced his intent to run for the Arkansas State Senate from District 22, Pulaski County. On May 18, 2010, he defeated

Dan Greenberg Daniel Greenberg (born December 9, 1965) is an American nonprofit executive and former politician. He is a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, who served from 2006 through 2011. ...

, son of the columnist Paul Greenberg, in the Republican primary, 58 to 42 percent. On November 2, 2010, Hutchinson defeated Democratic nominee Dawn Creekmore to claim the District 22 Senate seat. He was re-elected in 2013. Jeremy Hutchinson was named to ''

Arkansas Business Arkansas Business Publishing Group is a magazine and newspaper publisher based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. The company produces a variety of annual, biannual, monthly and weekly publications for various niche audiences in the state, ...

's'' "40 under 40" in 2002. He served on the board of the Arkansas Council on Economic Education. His biography states that in 2005, he was voted "Best Conservative" by readers of the ''

Arkansas Times ''Arkansas Times'', a weekly alternative newspaper based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, is a publication that has circulated more than 40 years, originally as a magazine. Founded as a small magazine on newsprint in 1977 by publisher A ...

''.

Conviction and Resignation

On August 31, 2018, the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

announced that Hutchinson was indicted by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

on 12 wire and tax fraud charges. Hutchinson resigned his office the same day. He faces "eight counts of wire fraud for spending the campaign funds on personal expenses and falsifying campaign reports and four counts of filing false tax returns from 2011 to 2014." On June 25, 2019, Hutchinson pleaded guilty to "

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

tax fraud Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trust (property), trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax au ...

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

, and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

in connection with a multi-district investigation into spanning the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas and the Western District of Missouri." On December 29, 2022 Hutchinson was sentenced to 19 days in jail for criminal

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

, after failing to pay nearly $524,000 in

child support payment Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...

s. On February 3, 2023 in connection with his guilty plea, Hutchinson was sentenced to 46 months prison by US District Judge Kristine Baker and ordered to pay fines of $224,497.10 to the State of Arkansas and $131,038 to the IRS.

Family and personal life

Hutchinson and his identical twin brother

Timothy Chad Hutchinson Timothy Chad Hutchinson (born March 4, 1974) is an attorney in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who is a Republican former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 95 in Benton County. He was initially elected in 2004, two years aft ...

are the sons of former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Tim Hutchinson Young Timothy Hutchinson (born August 11, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former United States senator from the state of Arkansas. A Republican, he was the first Republican U.S. senator to represent Arkansas since the reconstr ...

and nephews of the

Governor of Arkansas The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...

. Timothy Chad Hutchinson represented District 95, Benton County, from 2005 to 2011. Hutchinson is a nephew by marriage of former state senator

Kim Hendren Kim Dexter Hendren (born February 6, 1938) is an American engineer and politician. He served as a Democratic and Republican member for the 6th and 9th districts of the Arkansas Senate. Hendren also served a member of the Arkansas House of Repr ...

of Gravette, Benton County. Kim Hendren's son

Jim Hendren James Paul Hendren (born August 12, 1963) is an American politician who served as a member of the Arkansas Senate from the 2nd district. From January 2019 to January 2021, he served as Senate Majority Leader. Until February 2021, he was a Republi ...

, District 2 state senator from Benton County and the senate majority leader, is Hutchinson's cousin. In 2006, Hutchinson's mother, Donna Jean King Hutchinson of Bella Vista, Arkansas, was elected to the state House from District 98 in Benton County. She served four two-year terms. Hutchinson and his former wife were divorced in 2011. He and his former spouse both used alternate forms of their names in that filing; he filed for divorce under his middle name, "Young Hutchinson." On September 4, 2012, Hutchinson's ex-girlfriend, Julie McGee, was arrested for third-degree domestic battery at Hutchinson's Chenal Woods condominium in Little Rock after she hit Hutchinson with a preserved alligator head and left him with a bleeding wound. According to journalist Max Brantley, McGee had said that she had a financial support agreement with Hutchinson. Shortly thereafter, Hutchinson formally requested that the prosecuting attorney drop the battery charges so that he could "move on without any further embarrassment. In 2013, Hutchinson participated in "active shooter" training and mistakenly shot a teacher with a rubber bullet who was confronting a so-called "bad guy". The experience gave Hutchinson "some pause" but failed to shake his confidence in the training plan."School Districts Hope to Keep Security Licenses", ''

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas's counties. By virtue of one ...

'' August 28, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Jeremy 1974 births Living people Republican Party Arkansas state senators Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives American bankers American lobbyists American prosecutors Blackfeet Tribe people Native American state legislators in Arkansas University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumni Identical twins American twins Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly Hutchinson family Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas Arkansas politicians convicted of crimes