Jake Files
Jake Carter Files (b. March 27, 1972) is a former Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate, representing District 8 from 2010 to 2019. On January 29, 2018, the United States Department of Justice announced that Files had pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. On January 30, 2018, Files submitted his resignation letter. His resignation took effect on February 9, 2018.
Files served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003. He ran for re-election in 2004 but was denied.
Biography
Files earned his B.S. in accounting from Arkansas State University in 1994. His professional experience includes working as an Accountant for Baldor Electric Company, Vice President of Development for ERC Properties, an Accountant Fort Smith Christian School, and owner of FFH Construction, LLC.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Revenue and Taxation, Chair |
| • Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs |
| • Joint Budget |
| • Joint Budget |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Files served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Revenue and Taxation, Chair |
| • Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs |
| • Efficiency |
| • Legislative Facilities |
| • Joint Budget |
| • Legislative Joint Auditing |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Files served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Revenue and Taxation, Chair |
| • Joint Budget |
| • Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs |
| • Economic and Tax Policy |
| • Legislative Joint Auditing |
| • Efficiency |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Files served on these committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Efficiency |
| • Legislative Joint Auditing |
| • Revenue and Taxation |
| • Transportation, Technology and Legislative Affairs |
Campaign themes
2014
Files' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[1]
- Excerpt: "Here are a few things that I stand for and will pledge to do all I can to enact or support...
- Reducing the size of state government
- Economic Development and the legislation that will aid in the creation of jobs
- Supporting pro-family legislation
- Improving education and making sure our teachers get what they need to be successful without burdening them with bureaucracy
- Helping keep more of what we earn in our own accounts and reducing the tax burden
- Governmental transparency and openness
- Recognizing the impact small business plays in our economy and looking for ways to incentivize more growth
- Protecting our children from those who prey on them
- Seeing real action on I-49 in our lifetimes
- Supporting UA-Fort Smith in their role
- Protecting individual property rights
- Enforcement of immigration laws"
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2014
- See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Arkansas State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014; a runoff election took place on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 3, 2014. Incumbent Jake Files was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[2][3]
2012
- See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2012
Files ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Arkansas Senate, District 8. Files ran unopposed in the May 22 Republican primary and ran unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.[4][5][6]
2010
- See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2010
Files and Frank Glidewell defeated Jim Medley in the primary, and Files defeated Glidewell in the primary runoff. He then ran unopposed in the November 2 general election.[7][8]
| Arkansas State Senate, District 13 Republican Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
 Jake C. Files (R)
|
2,555 | |||
| Frank Glidewell (R)
|
2,392 | |||
| Jim Medley (R) | 1,470 | |||
| Arkansas State Senate, District 13 Rep Primary Runoff (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Jake C. Files (R)
|
2,463 | |||
| Frank Glidewell (R) | 1,822 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arkansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from February 12 through March 12. The legislature held a special session from March 13 to March 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 91st Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 1. The Legislature held a special session from May 1 to May 3.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from April 13 through May 9. The Legislature held a three-day special session from April 6 to April 8 over healthcare. The Legislature held a second special session from May 19 to May 23 over transportation.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Arkansas General Assembly was in session from February 10 to March 20. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2014. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 89th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 17.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Arkansas General Assembly was in session from February 13 to March 13. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2012. If you are aware of one, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the 88th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 27.
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Noteworthy events
2017
On January 29, 2018, the United States Department of Justice announced that Files had pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. According to The Washington Times, Files admitted to directing the Western Arkansas Economic Development District to grant $46,500 in state funds earmarked for economic development to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Files then submitted three fraudulent bids to the Western Arkansas Economic Development District. Upon receiving the funds, an unnamed associate of Files opened a bank account into which the funds were deposited (Files' name was not included on the account). The associate then withdrew funds in the form of cash and a cashier's check made out to Files' construction company. Files then deposited the funds into his own bank account.[10][11]
On January 30, 2018, Files submitted his resignation letter to Governor Asa Hutchinson (R). The effective date of his resignation was February 9, 2018.[12]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Jake + Files + Arkansas + Senate"
See also
- Arkansas State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Arkansas State Legislature
- Arkansas state legislative districts
External links
- Jake Files' campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions via OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ jakefiles.com, "What I Believe," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed March 5, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Election Results 2012," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2012 Election candidates," March 8, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ VoteNaturally.org, "Primary results," accessed May 12, 2014
- ↑ VoteNaturally.org, "General election results," November 2, 2010
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ballotpedia, "Arkansas's Freedom Scorecard," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Arkansas State Senator pleads guilty to wire fraud, money laundering," January 29, 2018
- ↑ Arkansas Times, "Sen. Jake Files pleads guilty to fraud, money laundering charges," January 29, 2018
- ↑ KATV, "Sen. Jake Files sends resignation letter to governor," January 30, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cecile Bledsoe (R) |
Arkansas State Senate District 8 2013–February 9, 2018 |
Succeeded by Frank Glildewell (R) |
| Preceded by Denny Altes |
Arkansas State Senate District 13 2011–2013 |
Succeeded by Alan Clark (R) |
