About Us > Arkansas Treasurer of State

Treasurer Mark Lowery

After 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 is 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.

The Treasurer’s Office

The Office of Treasurer of State of Arkansas was established by the Constitution of 1836 with the Treasurer being selected by a joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly. Each Constitution since that time has provided for a Treasurer of State.

The first person selected Treasurer of State was better known for having established the first newspaper in Arkansas. William E. Woodruff, the founder of the Arkansas Gazette, served as Treasurer of State from 1836 through 1838.

The Treasurer of State serves as the State’s banker and is responsible for an investment portfolio of approximately $9 billion. Every day, our staff accepts deposits, reconciles accounts, prepares statements and answers customers’ questions. As the bank for the State, the office provides many of the same services as private banks.

On average, the office accepts more than $70 million daily in deposits from various local, state and federal sources, and credits them to the proper accounts. These deposits are made up of electronic funds transfers, checks and cash. We process between 2,000 to 3,000 checks and reconcile over 3,000 accounts daily, representing the funds of nearly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions.

One of the most toured places in the office is the vault. The vault weighs 22,000 pounds — or the weight of two full-grown elephants — and was built between 1910 and 1912. Thousands of visitors each year, from every state and many foreign countries, visit the vault. School groups from around the state regularly visit the Capitol and come to the vault to take a picture holding anywhere from $100,000 to half-a-million dollars.

The door and the vault itself are two of the most interesting features for all visitors who come for a tour. The vault was shipped by train to Little Rock from the Mosler Safe Company in Hamilton, Ohio. Transporting the vault door from the train station to its current location in the Capitol proved to be a challenging task. A separate rail spur line had to be built to connect the train station to a second story window in the Capitol building in order to get the door in its rightful place inside the Treasurer’s Office suite.

The vault lock also tells a story of its own. It is controlled by a timing mechanism built by a Swiss clock maker. This is an entirely mechanical device and cannot be hacked. Each day, our tellers close the vault and set its timer, which controls when the vault can be reopened. The vault lock is not controlled by, or connected to, any Internet-controlled device.

Individuals and small groups are welcome anytime between 8 a.m. until 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday. For large groups, it may save you some time to schedule your visit so as to avoid waiting for other visitors to finish their tour. Please use the contact form to schedule your visit.