Griffin: ‘I am committed to creating a culture of excellence within the Office of the Attorney General’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement announcing a new hire and two promotions within his Special Investigations Division:

“I have hired Jessica Middleton as a Cybersecurity Analyst in our Special Investigations Division. Cybersecurity has been a priority of mine since before I was elected Attorney General, and creating this position greatly expands my office’s ability to protect Arkansans and educate them about cyber threats.

“I am also pleased to announce two promotions. Special Agent Walter Mahone has been promoted to Deputy Chief of the Special Investigations Division and will continue to serve as Director of the division’s Cyber Crimes Unit. In this new role, Deputy Chief Mahone will assist Chief Wayne Bewley in managing the seven units that make up the division – Cyber Crimes, Election Integrity, Public Integrity, Human Trafficking, Organized Retail Crime, Cold Case, and Executive Protection.

“Special Agent Amber Kalmer has been promoted to Director of Digital Forensics. Director Kalmer will be responsible for managing our digital forensics lab, processing digital evidence, assisting other law enforcement agencies with digital forensics work, and maintaining our evidence section.

“Both Deputy Chief Mahone and Director Kalmer have done outstanding work in the nearly two years I have been in office, and I am pleased to see them move into greater leadership roles. I am committed to creating a culture of excellence within the Office of the Attorney General, and these two exemplify excellence each and every day.”

Middleton previously worked at the Little Rock Police Department as an analyst from 2017 to 2024, working in the intelligence, narcotics, and vice units as well as in the Regional Crime Gun Intelligence Center. She is from Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, and attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for her undergraduate degree. She holds master’s degrees in sociology and social science from Arkansas State University and the University of California, Irvine, respectively. She teaches online in the Criminal Justice Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Middleton is a Certified Cyber Crime Intelligence Analyst and the President of the Ozarks Chapter (Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma) of the International Association of Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analysts.

Mahone started at the Office of the Attorney General in 2019 as a special agent in the Cyber Crimes Unit. He previously worked as a detective with the Frisco Police Department (Colorado) and the Grand County Sheriff’s Office (Colorado) from 2014-2019. In 2022, he was promoted to Director of Digital Forensics, where he managed the digital forensics lab of the Office of the Attorney General. In 2023, Mahone was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent and Director of the Cyber Crimes Unit, which includes the Internet Crimes Against Children, Digital Forensics, and Cybersecurity squads. Mahone holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice-Homeland Security Administration from Tiffin University, where he graduated with honors.

Kalmer started at the Attorney General’s Office in 2023 after working at the Little Rock Police Department as an officer and detective from 2009 to 2023. At LRPD, she worked narcotics and vice investigations. In 2019, Kalmer acquired K9 Lucy, one of only about 100 canines in the world trained to detect electronic devices, and Kalmer has been her handler ever since. K9 Lucy has been a great asset for not only the Special Investigations Division’s Internet Crimes Against Children and human trafficking investigations, but in any investigation involving electronic devices. K9 Lucy also serves as a companion dog to those who need her, such as victims.

To download a PDF copy of this release, click here.

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 28 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 lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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