LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced her intention to nominate Washington County Judge Joseph Wood as the Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services.
 
“Judge Wood shares my enthusiasm for shrinking the size and scope of government by identifying efficiencies and bold reforms to reduce budgets, saving money and providing better services to the hardworking men and women of Arkansas,” Sanders said. “The leadership and work he has done in one of our largest counties to ensure government performs better makes him a natural choice to serve as Secretary of the Department of Transformation and Shared Services in my administration.”
 
“I am not shy about my desire to serve the state of Arkansas and to help make it a place where businesses grow, families move to, and government stays out of the way,” Wood said. “That’s exactly what we have done in Washington County during my tenure as County Judge, and I am humbled by the confidence Governor-elect Sanders has in me to ask that I take on this critical work. Citizens expect their government to work for them and that’s exactly what we are going to make happen.”
 
Joseph Wood biography:
 
Joseph K. Wood is completing his 2nd term as Washington County Judge, which is the third largest county in Arkansas and one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. 
 
Elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2018, he has brought real-world executive experience and solutions from both private and public sectors to the office. Joseph has built a strong record of cutting government waste, reducing red tape for businesses to grow, managing budgets, and improving services as Deputy Secretary of State and currently as County Judge.
 
Joseph has developed and improved county buildings, roads, and bridges, created a crisis stabilization unit, presided over the quorum court, managed budgets, driven efficiencies in overall county government operations, and led 3,100 counties in the country as Chair of Community Economic and Workforce Development for National Association of Counties.
 
He has also served on the Veterans & Military Services Committee and the Broadband Task Force and Advisory Committee for the National Association of Counties.
 
Prior to public service, Joseph was head of International Recruitment for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and previously served as Assistant Director of Recruitment for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 
 
Active in his community as well, Joseph is a State Board of Director for The Call, a former Board of Director for the KIPP Delta Public Schools, a former representative to Sister Cities International, a former member of the Chancellor’s Diversity Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas, a former board of director for the NWA Red Cross, and an active member of the Republican Party of Arkansas, serving two terms as Treasurer.
 
Joseph has published two children’s books, Saving Joey, and Adopting Joey (Amazon and Kharis Publishing) about foster care, adoption, and his true life-story. He also wrote the foreword to two books, American Vision 20/20, and The Hope of Things to Come.
 
Abandoned in the streets at birth, he was placed in an orphanage and would eventually find his forever family. He grew up with his two brothers and sister in Chicago where his mother was an educator, and his father was a construction worker. 
 
Joseph and his wife June have three daughters: Paris, Loren J’la, and Candace and enjoy their two grandsons Brian and Joey.