WASHINGTON -- U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge and five others will join an advisory panel for Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Eldridge, the attorney for the Western District of Arkansas since 2010, will be the only Arkansan on the 21-member panel.
"It's a great honor and I'm very excited about it," Eldridge said. "It is really a great way to work on important law enforcement and prosecutorial and criminal justice issues on a national scale."
Lynch said in a statement that the panel helps introduce new ideas, policies and strategies and helps the various U.S. attorneys' offices work together with law enforcement and the main justice department.
Eldridge was appointed U.S. attorney at the same time Lynch became U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
"I've worked with her throughout my time as U.S. attorney and look forward to working with her now as attorney general," he said.
Other U.S. attorneys joining the panel are Deirdre Daly for the District of Connecticut; Steven Dettelbach for the Northern District of Ohio; Paul Fishman for the District of New Jersey; Booth Goodwin II for the Southern District of West Virginia; and Kenneth Polite for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Eldridge, 37, is the youngest United States attorney in the country, according to his biography. He previously served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Arkadelphia and as chief executive officer of Summit Bank in Arkadelphia. Eldridge serves as co-chairman of the Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which is composed of 20 law enforcement agencies and Department of Justice staff members and works to increase collaboration in addressing domestic terrorism threats.
Eldridge graduated from Davidson College in 1999 and from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2003. He clerked for Eastern District of Arkansas Judge G. Thomas Eisele from 2003-04 and was a legislative assistant to former U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln and former U.S. Rep. Marion Berry.
The Western District of Arkansas encompasses 34 counties stretching from Texarkana and El Dorado to Fayetteville and Fort Smith.
Metro on 05/01/2015