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.