LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Cole Jester took the oath of office to assume his position as the new Arkansas secretary of state in a ceremony at the state capitol on Thursday.
Jester assumes the role after his two-year appointment by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in December. The appointment came after now-former Secretary of State John Thurston was elected state treasurer.
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Another Sanders appointee, Supreme Court Associate Justice Cody Hiland, administered the oath.
Jester had previously been Sander’s deputy chief legal counsel for two years. Before that, he was an Appellate Clerk for Chief Judge Lavenski Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, having clerked for the firm of Friday, Eldridge, & Clark while in law school.
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In remarks shortly after being sworn in, Jester said his office would be run “more accurately, more quickly and more reliably than it has ever been done before.”
Before taking the oath, Jester released a statement regarding the eight principles his office will operate under, focusing on service to Arkansans, propriety and efficiency in operations, along with security in elections and the capitol.