Governor Appoints Jordan Burgess as Chief Legal Counsel

Jordan Burgess, chief legal counsel for Gov. Asa Hutchinson 

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has appointed Jordan Burgess as his office’s chief legal counsel.

Burgess follows Karen Whatley, who was appointed to the 6th Judicial Circuit bench to replace the retired judge Barry Sims.

Burgess has been the director of legislative and agency affairs since October. In that role, she led a team of Hutchinson’s agency liaisons, whose primary job is to research and promote the implementation of the governor’s ideas, initiatives and legislative agenda.

Burgess was previously the senior health policy adviser and liaison to the Department of Human Services, where she helped advance Hutchinson’s goals to improve health care and assisted with the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Jordan has been an essential leader in my administration operating in many different roles,” Hutchinson said in a news release. “She has the hard-won experience that will benefit Arkansas as she takes on this new role.”

Burgess, a Fort Smith native, holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Central Arkansas. She earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and a bachelor’s in international business from the University of Arkansas.

Burgess is a member of Leadership Arkansas Class XIII and currently serves on the UCA Alumni Board of Directors.

“I am grateful to the Governor for his continued confidence and support as I step into this new role,” she said in the release. “It has been an honor to serve the Governor and the State of Arkansas, and I look forward to continuing to serve in this new capacity.”