Griffin: ‘It takes a team effort to fight the reprehensible crime of sexually exploiting our children’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement regarding the arrest of Austin Norris, 28, of Watts, Oklahoma, on a federal count of receiving or distributing material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor:

“This arrest stems from an investigation by my office that began with a tip to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. A special agent from my office investigating the case is also a task force officer with Homeland Security Investigations and worked with federal authorities to arrest Norris, who recently moved from Arkansas to Oklahoma.

“I offer my thanks to agents with HSI Fayetteville and HSI Tulsa, and troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for working with my office’s Special Investigations Division on this arrest. It takes a team effort to fight the reprehensible crime of sexually exploiting our children.”

Norris was arrested on September 9 on a federal arrest warrant for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(A)(2) – Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. A search warrant was also served at his residence. After his arrest, Norris’ digital devices were seized.

Norris is being held without bond in the Tulsa County jail, where he will be turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service and transported to federal court in Little Rock.

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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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