LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Arkansas senator Jason Rapert has been appointed to the state's library board by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Nov. 20.
Rapert, who has long been a vocal opponent of the LGBTQ community and abortion laws, will serve on the board until his term expires on Oct. 18, 2029.
This appointment comes as Arkansas libraries and parents are challenging in court a law passed in 2023 that restricts access to books in public libraries. The law is temporarily blocked after a ruling by a district judge in July.
That law creates a process to challenge library materials that are deemed "obscene" and "relocated" to an area not accessible to children. Many of the materials challenged in Arkansas so far this year have been books that include LGBTQ themes.
He served in the Arkansas senate from Jan. 2011 until Jan. 2023, last representing the 35th district.
Rapert stepped out of the legislature after losing the 2022 Republican primary for the lieutenant governor of Arkansas to Leslie Rutledge, getting less than 15% of the vote.