Jim Hendren | |
|---|---|
| President pro tempore of theArkansas Senate | |
| In office January 14, 2019 – January 11, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Jonathan Dismang |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Hickey Jr. |
| Majority Leader of theArkansas Senate | |
| In office January 13, 2015 – January 14, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Eddie Joe Williams |
| Succeeded by | Bart Hester |
| Member of theArkansas Senate from the 2nd district | |
| In office January 2013 – January 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Randy Laverty |
| Succeeded by | redistricted |
| Member of theArkansas House of Representatives from the 1st district | |
| In office January 1995 – January 8, 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Railey Steele |
| Succeeded by | Kim Hendren |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Paul Hendren (1963-08-12)August 12, 1963 (age 62) |
| Party | Republican (Before 2021) Independent (2021–present) |
| Spouse | Tammy Hendren |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Tim Hutchinson (uncle) Asa Hutchinson (uncle) |
| Education | University of Arkansas (BS) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1984–1992 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
James Paul Hendren (born August 12, 1963)[1] is an American politician who served as a member of theArkansas Senate from the 2nd district. From January 2019 to January 2021, he served as Senate Majority Leader.
Until February 2021, he was aRepublican; but he had left his party in the wake of the2021 storming of the United States Capitol. He resides inSulphur Springs inBenton County inNorthwest Arkansas. He is the nephew of former Governor of ArkansasAsa Hutchinson and former U.S. RepresentativeTim Hutchinson.
A native ofGravette in Benton County, Hendren spent a semester atBob Jones University and graduated in 1984 with a degree in electrical engineering from theUniversity of Arkansas atFayetteville.
From 1984 to 1992, he served in theUnited States Air Force. A former F-15 fighter pilot, he flew in six intercepts of planes of the formerSoviet Union over theBering Sea. Since 2003, he has been a senior offensive duty guard in the Arkansas Air National Guard. He owns Hendren Plastics Company. He and his wife, Tammy Claire Hendren (born 1964), have four children, Daniel, David, Nick, and Molly. He is aBaptist.[2]
Hendren was elected to the Gravette School Board in 1992.[3]
In 1994, Hendren defeated RepresentativeRailey Steele in a race for theArkansas House of Representatives. He remained a state representative until 2000. During this time, he worked for passage of several pieces ofanti-abortion legislation, including a ban onpartial birth abortions in 1996 and the Fetal Protection Law of 1999.[4]
In 2001, Hendren ran unsuccessfully to succeed his uncles,Asa Hutchinson andTim Hutchinson, representingArkansas's 3rd congressional district in a special election campaign that was hampered by reports of anextramarital affair.[5][6] Hendren finished third in the Republican primary.
In 2003, Hendren returned to military service and joined theMissouri Air National Guard, of which he holds the rank oflieutenant colonel.[3]
In 2012, Hendren ran unopposed for the state Senate; his initial four-year term expired on December 31, 2016. Re-elected in the 2016 election, Hendren served on the Education Facilities Oversight Committee and the Arkansas Legislative Council. He was a member of four other Senate committees: Budget, Children & Youth, Education, and Energy .[2] Hendren passed legislation exempting all active duty and National Guard personnel from state income tax in 2013. He was also appointed chairman of a Joint Task Force charged with reforming public school and Arkansas State Employee Insurance programs.[7]
In January 2021, Hendren stepped down as the state's Senate Majority Leader. On February 19, in an interview withMSNBC, he officially disaffiliated from the Republican Party, re-registering as an independent, citing the party's lack of safety and increased partisanship particularly in the2021 storming of the United States Capitol, and announced that he would form a new organization to be called "Common Ground Arkansas".[8][9]
In 2020, a Federal judge ordered Hendren Plastics and DARP Foundation to pay more than $1.1 million in back wages and damages to workers who were forced to work without pay at Hendren Plastics. District Judge Timothy Brooks wrote that “They were businesses that manipulated the labor market and skirted compliance with the labor laws for their own private ends,” The DARP Foundation was a work-based rehab in which many participants had their participation court ordered in lieu of incarceration. DARP supplied workers to Hendren's Hendren Plastics who used them as a “captive workforce.” Not only was the misuse of rehab workers abusive but it also displaced private sector employees at Hendren Plastics who had enjoyed a significantly higher wage than the temporary laborers. Injuries to the workers at Hendren Plastics were commonplace with seriously injured workers being kicked out of the program and sent to prison, this created an incentive to massively underreport workplace injuries.[10]
His father,Kim Hendren, is a former member of the Arkansas Senate and in a second stint in office a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. His sister,Gayla Hendren McKenzie, served in the State House, but retired to run for State Senate in 2022. Another sister,Hope Hendren Duke, was elected to the State House in 2022. Through his mother, the former Marylea Hutchinson, his cousins include fellow State SenatorJeremy Hutchinson and former State RepresentativeTimothy Chad Hutchinson, sons of former SenatorTim Hutchinson, and Hutchinson's first wife,Donna.
On January 21, 2026, Hendren flew to space onBlue OriginNS-38, reaching an altitude of 107 km.[11]
| Arkansas House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theArkansas House of Representatives from the 1st district 1995–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Arkansas Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theArkansas Senate from the 2nd district 2013–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Majority Leader of theArkansas Senate 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of theArkansas Senate 2019–2021 | Succeeded by |
