Milton Nicks

Milton J. Nicks, Jr. (born October 3, 1950),^[1] is a Baptist pastor in his native Earle, Arkansas, who is a Democratic member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for Distritct 50, which includes Crittenden and Cross counties in the eastern part of his state.^[2]

Nicks is the pastor of the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in Earle but resides in the larger city of Marion, also in Crittenden County. He is the chief executive officer of Nicks Construction Company. Like his colleague Dwight Tosh of Jonesboro, Nicks is a retired officer of the Arkansas State Police. He is a trustee of the Crittenden County Crime Stoppers Board. Nicks is a former trustee, who served under gubernatorial appointment, of Arkansas State University-Mid South, formerly known as Mid-South Community College, an institution in West Memphis. He is a former vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and is a one-time board member of Crittenden Regional Hospital, both in West Memphis.^[3][2]

Nicks defeated his fellow African American, the incumbent House District 50 Democrat Fred Smith, a former professional basketball player, in a low-turnout primary held on May 20, 2014. Nicks polled 1,109 votes (67.1 percent) to Smith's 544 (32.9 percent). Nicks was then unopposed in the November 4 general election. If reelected in 2016 and 2018, he is eligible to serve in the House until January 2021.^[4]

Representative Nicks holds these committee assignments: (1) Joint Performance Review, (2) City, County and Local Affairs, and (3) Public Transportation.^[2] Nicks is the chaplain of the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus.^[5]

In February 2015, Nicks was one of twenty legislators who opposed House Bill 1228, authored by Republican Bob Ballinger of Carroll County in northwestern Arkansas,^[6] which sought to prohibit government from imposing a burden on the free exercise of religion.^[7] Representative Camille Bennett, a Democrat from Lonoke, called for a reworking of the legislation.^[8] She claimed the Ballinger bill would establish a "type of religious litmus test" which could impact nearly any law under consideration by the legislature.^[6] Ballinger's bill was subsequently signed into law in revised form, SB 975, by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson.^[9]

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