| Senator Terry Rice represents Senate District 9, which comprises Scott County and
portions of Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian Counties. District 9 includes cities as
Van Buren, Barling, Charleston, Mansfield and Waldron.
He was elected to the Senate in 2014. Senator Rice is Senate Co-Chair of the
Arkansas Legislative Council and a member of Joint Budget Committee. He also
serves as vice chair of Senate Committee on City, County and Local Affairs and is a
member of Senate Judiciary Committee, Joint Performance Review Committee, Joint
Energy Committee, Legislative Joint Auditing and serves on several subcommittees.
Senator Rice's legislative priorities include juvenile justice and foster care. He has
sponsored legislation to update the protections in state law against the unlawful use of
unmanned aircraft over critical infrastructure. Also, he has sponsored legislation to
prohibit public funding of human cloning research.
Senator Rice served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2014.
When he was a House member he served as chair of Joint Performance Review
(JPR), vice chair of ALC and on its Executive Subcommittee. He sponsored legislation
regarding a mental health examination of a defendant and to amend the Child Welfare
Agency Licensing Act. He co-sponsored Paul's Law - to make texting illegal while
driving, to amend Arkansas Law concerning charitable bingo and raffles and a wide
range of bills that deals with appropriations for different agencies.
Senator Rice is the longtime co-owner of Rice Furniture in Waldron and a cattle farmer.
He is president of two Rice Furniture & Appliance Stores. He is a past president of the
Arkansas Home Furnishings Association and has served on the southeast region
board of Associated Volume Buyers/Brand Source National Dealer Group. He has
received regional and state recognition for his professional accomplishments including
Dealer of the Year from various industry associates.
Senator Rice was born in Fort Smith. He and his wife JoAnn have been married for
more than 48 years, and have two sons and four grandchildren. They are members of
Bates Baptist Church. Senator Rice's father and grandfather also served in the
Arkansas Legislature. |