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VietnameseGriffin: ‘The title of Deputy Attorney General reflects their leadership and their standing among my senior staff’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing two promotions in his office:
“I am pleased to announce the promotions of Ryan Cooper to Deputy Attorney General, Special Prosecutions Division, and Alexandra Benton to Deputy Attorney General and Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Ryan and Alex are excellent attorneys who were invaluable during the 94th General Assembly in tracking, crafting and advocating for legislation that aligned with my priorities as Attorney General. The title of Deputy Attorney General reflects their leadership and their standing among my senior staff.”
In addition to leading the Special Prosecutions Division, Cooper serves as a liaison for the Office of the Attorney General to prosecutors across the state. Before joining the Office of the Attorney General in January, he served as Prosecuting Attorney for Arkansas’s Third Judicial District. He holds a juris doctor with high honors from the University of Arkansas Law School.
In her role, Benton manages relationships between the Office of the Attorney General and all levels of government – local, state and federal. Prior to joining the office in January, she served as Counselor and Deputy Director of America Strong & Free, the national political education platform of then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson. She holds a juris doctor from the University of Memphis and studied international law at the University of Cambridge.
Cooper is originally from Pocahontas, and Benton is from Batesville.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 26 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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