Statement from the Treasurer's Office

The Office of the Arkansas State Treasurer is sad to announce that Arkansas State Treasurer Mark Lowery passed away this morning at the age of 66. Lowery’s daughter, Erin Lowery, said her father was surrounded by family and went peacefully. On Tuesday, July 25, Lowery announced his plans to retire on September 30. Lowery’s

daughter said his condition deteriorated rapidly overnight and he died in the hospital this morning.

Lowery was elected Arkansas Treasurer on November 8, 2022, and was sworn into office January 10 of this year. Stephen Bright, chief of staff at the Office of the Treasurer said, “We are devastated. Losing Mark represents a huge loss for the entire staff. Mark was an incredible leader and a humble public servant and this was unexpected. It’s definitely going to take us time to process this. We ask that you keep Mark’s family in your thoughts and prayers during this time.”



About State Treasurer Mark Lowery

Before being sworn in as Arkansas Treasurer of State on January 10, 2023, Mark Lowery served five terms in the Arkansas Legislature, the last two terms as House Chair of the Insurance and Commerce Committee, a member of the Education Committee as well as the Arkansas Legislative Council.

He was previously appointed by former Governor Asa Hutchinson to represent Arkansas on the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and has served on the Education Committee of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC).

Lowery was lead sponsor of Arkansas’ Voter ID law passed in the 2017 session. He has also been the sponsor of every homeschool law passed since 2013 earning him the Family Council Trailblazer Award. Governor Hutchinson tapped Lowery to also be lead sponsor for Arkansas’ Outcomes-based funding model for higher education after he chaired the Higher Education task force examining duplication in degree programs and examining the possible need for assigning independent two- and four-year campuses to one of the two existing university systems.

In 2013, Lowery was the sponsor of legislation affirming Arkansas’ support for joint custody and co-sponsored the 2021 legislation requiring rebuttable presumption in joint custody.

Treasurer Lowery was a graduate of the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville earning a MA and BA in Communication. Prior to serving in the Arkansas House Lowery has been a newspaper editor, taught Communications at the University of Central Arkansas and Henderson State University. Lowery also served as Chief of Staff in the office of Lt. Governor Mike Huckabee in the mid 90’s and later was the lobbyist and Executive Director of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) from 2003 to 2011.