Arkansas GOP state Rep. Austin McCollum arrested on domestic battering charges

Republican state Rep. Austin McCollum was arrested Saturday on domestic battering charges, prompting Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to call for his resignation and House Speaker Brian Evans to strip his leadership positions.

McCollum was being held without bond in the Benton County jail on 3rd degree domestic battering charges, an online inmate roster showed. 5News reported he was also being held on aggravated assault and first-degree false imprisonment charges.

Details of what led to his arrest and a copy of the incident report were not immediately available. 

McCollum and a spokesperson for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment Saturday afternoon. It was not immediately clear when McCollum’s first court appearance would be.

McCollum has served in the state House since 2017 and represents House District 8 in Benton County. He won the Republican nomination for Benton County judge in March.

“The allegations against Representative McCollum are appalling, and I’m praying for his wife and children,” Sanders said in a statement. “I absolutely condemn violence of any form, and if these credible, sickening allegations are accurate, I call on him to immediately resign his office and drop out of the race for county judge.”

Evans said he would strip McCollum, who serves as vice chair of the House Advanced Communications and Information Technology Committee, of his leadership positions. The Republican speaker from Cabot said he would call on McCollum to resign “or convene the House to take the necessary actions” if the lawmaker is convicted.

“Domestic violence is a serious offense that shatters families, harms victims, and erodes the trust that public servants are expected to uphold,” Evans said in a statement. “Every allegation of abuse must be treated with the seriousness it deserves.”

Attorney General Tim Griffin and Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, both Republicans, also called for McCollum to resign and said he should drop his bid for county judge.

McCollum, a former House majority leader, has sponsored several bills that have become law including measures last year banning ranked-choice voting and 2023 legislation creating an election integrity unit in the attorney general’s office. In 2021, he was the lead sponsor of a bill that would have ended Confederate Flag Day. The House passed that measure, but it died in the Senate.