Griffin: ‘I can think of no better choice than Steve Cook to serve on the ESG Oversight Committee”

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement announcing the appointment of former Senate Parliamentarian and Chief Legal Counsel Steven “Steve” Cook to the ESG Oversight Committee created by Act 411 of 2023:

“For the eight years I served as Lieutenant Governor, Steve Cook was a trusted advisor and friend who demonstrated integrity and wisdom. Steve recently retired from the role of Parliamentarian and Chief Legal Counsel for the Senate after 44 years of distinguished service to Arkansas. I am delighted he has agreed to accept this appointment to the ESG Oversight Committee. Steve will serve the people of Arkansas well. I can think of no better choice than Steve Cook to serve on the ESG Oversight Committee.”

Act 411 created the ESG Oversight Committee “to determine a list of financial services providers that discriminate against energy, fossil fuel, firearms, or ammunition companies or otherwise refuse to deal based on environmental, social justice, and other governance-related factors.” Public entities may not invest cash funds with any provider appearing on the list.

Cook began his career in the legislature in 1979 as a bill drafter and committee staff analyst for the Bureau of Legislative Research before becoming the Assistant Chief of Staff for the Senate in 1985. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in history and political science from Arkansas Tech University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law.

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.