PRESS RELEASE

WHEREAS:  Charles L. Daniels, born December 7, 1939, near El Dorado, Arkansas, held the offices of Secretary of State, Commissioner of State Lands, and Auditor in service to the State of Arkansas. Daniels passed away on July 9, 2023, deeply loved by his family, friends, and colleagues, and known as a beloved public servant of the people of Arkansas;

WHEREAS:  Daniels began his career in public service in the United States Air Force, serving four years of active duty and fifteen in the Air Force Reserves. He attended Southern Arkansas University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock before becoming an electrician at Arkansas Power and Light Company;

WHEREAS:  Daniels entered public office in 1972 upon his election to the Parker’s Chapel School Board. Governor David Pryor then appointed Daniels as Director of the Arkansas Department of Labor. Daniels served in this position into the administration of the next Governor, Bill Clinton;

WHEREAS:  Daniels was elected as Commissioner of State Lands in 1984 and served in that position for eighteen years. He was then elected Secretary of State in 2003 and served in that position until 2011. He completed four decades of elected public service as Arkansas State Auditor; and

WHEREAS:  Daniels leaves behind a long legacy marked by generosity, humor, and humility. It is fitting and right for Arkansas to honor him and his decades of service to the people of Arkansas.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, in tribute to the memory of Charlie L. Daniels and as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the United States flag and the state flag of Arkansas be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on July 14, 2023.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 12th day of July, in the year of our Lord 2023.