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Kristi Putnam steps down as Arkansas Human Services secretary

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1 month ago

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arkansasadvocate.com – Sonny Albarado – 2025-06-11 13:36:00


Arkansas State Medicaid Director Janet Mann will become secretary of the Department of Human Services next month, succeeding Kristi Putnam, who is returning to Kentucky. Mann, with over 20 years of healthcare experience, currently serves as DHS deputy secretary of programs and Medicaid director. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised Putnam’s reforms in foster care, Medicaid, maternal health, and food stamps during her tenure. Mann oversees major DHS divisions and holds a CPA degree. The administration has implemented initiatives like welfare-to-work requirements, foster care reduction, maternal health improvements, and laws regulating pharmacy benefit managers and SNAP benefits.

by Sonny Albarado, Arkansas Advocate
June 11, 2025

Arkansas State Medicaid Director Janet Mann will become secretary of the Department of Human Services next month as Secretary Kristi Putnam returns to Kentucky, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.

Mann serves as DHS’ deputy secretary of programs as well as medicaid director. She has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and healthcare finance and previously served as chief financial officer and director of the division of medical services for the department.

Putnam was deputy secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders picked her to lead Arkansas’ Human Services Department in 2023.

“Over the past two-and-a-half years, Kristi has overhauled the Department of Human Services and brought much-needed reforms to the programs her agency oversees, including foster care, Medicaid, maternal health, food stamps, and more,” Sanders said in the press release announcing Putnam’s departure and Mann’s promotion.

“I am grateful that we have someone as qualified as Janet to take over for Kristi and seamlessly continue to make positive changes at DHS,” Sanders said. “Janet has an encyclopedic knowledge of her agency and I know she is the exact right person to lead DHS into the future.”

Sanders said Putnam will be returning to Kentucky. Putnam said her “whole career has focused on serving families, and this move back to Kentucky is so I can serve my own family in a bigger way,” according to the release.

Putnam described Mann as “the absolute right person to step up as secretary.” The incoming secretary “is one of the most creative policy experts I have ever known, and will take DHS to new levels of success,” Putnam said.

Mann said she is honored that Sanders selected her and is looking forward “to continue the great work Kristi and I have been able to accomplish in this administration.”

As DHS deputy secretary of programs, Mann oversees the department’s divisions of aging, substance abuse and mental health, developmental disabilities, provider services and quality assurance, eligibility, child welfare and youth services, as well as Medicaid.  The department is the state’s largest agency with a total budget of about $11 billion, and its programs serve approximately 1 in 3 Arkansans.

Mann’s background includes a stint as the deputy administrator for Mississippi Medicaid and as a consultant to several states’ Medicaid agencies on finance, reporting, managed care, program integrity, organizational assessments and eligibility, according to the press release.  She holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Alabama and is a Certified Public Accountant.

The governor’s press release said she, Putnam and Mann have worked closely together “to deliver transformational change to the people of Arkansas.” It cited Arkansas’ “welfare to work requirement,” changes initiated by the Governor’s Maternal Health Strategic Committee to support pregnant people and a foster care and adoption initiative that has reduced the number of children in foster care.

The release also cited the state’s first-in-the-nation law preventing pharmacy benefit managers from operating drug stores in Arkansas and the newly approved ban on the use of SNAP benefits for soft drinks and candy.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Kristi Putnam steps down as Arkansas Human Services secretary appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com


Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The content highlights policy initiatives and personnel changes under Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a known Republican figure. It emphasizes welfare reform, Medicaid work requirements, and conservative-leaning policies such as restrictions on SNAP benefits. The tone is positive toward these changes and leaders, reflecting a moderate conservative perspective focused on government efficiency and traditional social policy priorities without extreme rhetoric or partisan attacks.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Judge Reviewing Request For 10 Commandments To Not Be Displayed This School Year

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21 hours ago

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July 18, 2025

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www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-18 22:15:00

SUMMARY: A federal judge is reviewing a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom. Parents from Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs school districts seek to block the law before it takes effect on August 5th. Represented by the ACLU, they argue the law violates religious freedom by favoring one religion and interfering with diverse faiths. The state contends the law highlights the Ten Commandments’ historical significance, not religion. Any court ruling blocking the law would only apply to the plaintiffs’ districts. The judge plans a decision before August 5th.

Judge Reviewing Request For 10 Commandments To Not Be Displayed This School Year

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Crawford County appeals injunction of Arkansas library law, citing dispute over legal fees

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1 day ago

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July 18, 2025

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arkansasadvocate.com – Tess Vrbin – 2025-07-18 16:03:00


Crawford County officials are appealing a federal judge’s $441,000 attorney fee award in a case blocking parts of Arkansas’ Act 372, which sought to regulate library book content and potentially criminalize librarians. The law was ruled unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment. A related lawsuit also found the county in violation for segregating LGBTQ+ children’s books, resulting in a $113,000 judgment. County leaders cited Act 372 to justify the “social section,” created amid public backlash. Former library director Deidre Grzymala, who implemented the section, later sued the county for defamation and breach of contract after her resignation. Appeals remain ongoing.

p>by Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate
July 18, 2025

Crawford County officials have joined the appeal of a federal judge’s award of over $441,000 in attorneys’ fees in a case that resulted in blocking parts of a 2023 Arkansas law affecting what books are available in public libraries.

Crawford County and County Judge Chris Keith filed a notice of appeal and a request to stay the monetary judgment on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Keith and the county were among the defendants, along with Arkansas’ 26 prosecuting attorneys, in 18 plaintiffs’ challenge of two sections of Act 372 of 2023.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks permanently blocked the challenged sections in December, determining they violated the First Amendment. In addition to giving city and county governing bodies authority over library content, Act 372 would also have altered libraries’ material reconsideration processes and created criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors.”

Crawford County Library will foot the bill for lawsuit over segregation of LGBTQ+ children’s books

Crawford County and Keith were among the defendants that lost a separate lawsuit over library content in September. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled in favor of three parents who claimed the Crawford County Library’s segregation of LGBTQ+ children’s books into separate “social sections” violated the First Amendment.

The case was reassigned from Holmes to Brooks, who ordered the defendants to pay the plaintiffs nearly $113,000. The Crawford County Quorum Court voted unanimously in April to accept the library’s governing board’s offer to pay the fees. The board was among the defendants along with Keith, the county, the quorum court and county library director Charlene McDonnough.

In May, Brooks ordered the defendants in the Act 372 case to reimburse the plaintiffs $441,646.49 in total.

“At this time, the Plaintiffs and Crawford County have been unable to reach a settlement for the fees and costs,” the county’s attorneys wrote in Thursday’s motion to stay the execution of the payment. “Therefore, Crawford County will appeal the award of attorney fees and costs.”

Crawford County stay

Twice last year, the Crawford County defendants asked Brooks to dismiss them from the Act 372 lawsuit. Brooks denied the motions, ruling that the county and Keith would be responsible for implementing Act 372 if it went into effect and if appeals of challenged material reached the county government.

Attorney General Tim Griffin appealed the ruling on behalf of the rest of the Act 372 defendants in January.

Crawford County officials cited Act 372 as a reason to maintain the library’s “social sections” of LGBTQ+ children’s books that only adults could access. McDonnough’s predecessor, Deidre Grzymala, created the sections as a “compromise” after public outcry between December 2022 and January 2023, a few months before Act 372 became law.

In May, Grzymala sued Crawford County and a member of the library board, alleging defamation and breach of contract over her February 2023 resignation and severance package.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Crawford County appeals injunction of Arkansas library law, citing dispute over legal fees appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com


Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content leans center-left, primarily due to its focus on defending First Amendment rights and opposing laws that restrict access to certain books, particularly those involving LGBTQ+ themes. The article highlights legal challenges to Arkansas legislation seen as limiting library content, emphasizing the unconstitutionality of such restrictions. While the tone remains factual and legalistic, the perspective aligns with protecting free expression and inclusivity, which are commonly associated with center-left viewpoints.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

New prison would exacerbate Fort Smith’s current water transmission challenges

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2 days ago

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July 17, 2025

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www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-07-17 20:29:48

SUMMARY: Fort Smith has declined to provide water for a proposed 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County due to existing water transmission limitations. A recent engineering report revealed that the city’s current maximum water production of 50 million gallons per day is sometimes exceeded, and adding the prison would worsen supply issues. While alternatives like sourcing water from Ozark or the Arkansas River are being considered, Fort Smith’s infrastructure—built in the 1930s—is only partially upgraded. A new 48-inch pipeline is planned, but only the first phase is complete. Full completion may take over a decade, even with unlimited funding, officials say.

New prison would exacerbate Fort Smith’s current water transmission challenges

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