LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Former Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert was confirmed by vote onto the state library board Friday morning.
The appointment of the avowed social conservative to the board by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in November had generated controversy.
“I appreciate the confidence of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for appointing me to the Arkansas Library Board, and appreciate my former colleagues in the Senate for confirming me,” Rapert said.
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Rapert had said earlier that if he were voted onto the library board, he would vote to defund libraries that sue the state over Act 372, which was passed in this year’s general assembly. The act’s stated purpose was to restrict potentially obscene material in libraries from minors and make library employees criminally liable for violations.
Rapert is the founder and current president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, which has a stated mission of supporting biblical principles in lawmaking. He also had a major role in having the 10 Commandments displayed at the state capitol.
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The former senator from Conway was confirmed to the state library board by a 22-10 vote in the Senate Rules Committee. Committee ex officio member Sen. Greg Leding (D-Fayetteville) stated on social media that “Senators Chesterfield, Davis, English, Flowers, Hickey, King, Leding, Love, Murdock, and Tucker voted against confirming Mr. Rapert to the state library board. Senators Irvin and Wallace were excused.”
Leding said Rapert was the only one of the 93 appointees for various state boards before the committee on Friday who senators voted upon separately. One senator was absent and had no vote recorded, and Leding noted no woman voted in favor of Rapert’s confirmation.
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Rapert was sworn in onto the seven-member board Friday afternoon in Conway for a term through October 2029.
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