Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's chief of staff, Cory Cox, will depart next month for a job in the private sector and Rutledge will promote Deputy Chief of Staff Brian Bowen to replace Cox, Rutledge announced this week.
Cox has been Rutledge's chief of staff since 2017 and has worked in state government for more than 20 years, Rutledge's office said in a news release. His departure from the attorney general's office will be effective Aug. 13.
Cox will become director of community relations for CareSource and "will serve as a strong internal resource as we prepare to serve Arkansans in the near future," a spokesperson for CareSource said, citing Cox's legal, insurance and health care background.
CareSource PASSE has been approved for a license by the state Insurance Department to participate in the Provider-led Arkansas Shared Savings Entity and will become a new option for Arkansans with complex behavioral health issues and people with intellectual disabilities, the company announced earlier this month. The firm is the fourth to be licensed to provide medical care and other services to nearly 50,000 Medicaid beneficiaries with significant behavioral health needs or developmental disabilities.
Bowen has worked for Rutledge since 2017. He also served as the deputy attorney general for state agencies and legislative director. He will become chief of staff on Aug. 16 with a salary of $165,564. His current salary is $145,124, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
Rutledge said she will promote her director of public affairs, Kerry Jucas Moody, who has worked for Rutledge since December 2019 to fill the deputy chief of staff post, effective Aug. 16. She will be paid $120,000 as deputy chief of staff. She is now paid $90,669, according to the transparency website. Moody previously worked nine years in the secretary of state's office in several positions, including deputy secretary of state.