LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— Last week, Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her intention to nominate Washington County Judge Joseph Wood as the Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services.

“Judge Wood shares my enthusiasm for shrinking the size and scope of government by identifying efficiencies and bold reforms to reduce budgets, saving money and providing better services to the hardworking men and women of Arkansas,” Sanders said. “The leadership and work he has done in one of our largest counties to ensure government performs better makes him a natural choice to serve as Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services in my administration.”

“I am not shy about my desire to serve the state of Arkansas and to help make it a place where businesses grow, families move to, and government stays out of the way,” Wood said. “That’s exactly what we have done in Washington County during my tenure as County Judge, and I am humbled by the confidence Governor-elect Sanders has in me to ask that I take on this critical work. Citizens expect their government to work for them and that’s exactly what we are going to make happen.”

RPA Chairman Cody Hiland added: "Joseph Wood is a man of integrity and a trusted friend to many of us. His passion and vision for a smaller more efficient government is shared by Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders and is consistent with the RPA platform. We look forward to his leadership in an agency whose inherent mission is the efficient operation of state government."

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