In order to be named U.S. Marshal, J.R.’s name was first submitted to the White House by Congressman John Boozman. Next, Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln supported this recommendation. Then, J.R. underwent an extensive background investigation. This began with an interview by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. During this time, J.R.’s neighbors from over thirty years ago were called to testify concerning his character.

At the conclusion of the background check, J.R. was appointed by President Bush. One year and one day after his initial background interview, J.R. was inducted as a U.S. Marshal on June 27, 2007.

J.R. grew up in Huntsville, Arkansas. After graduating from Huntsville High School, he obtained a degree in agriculture from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He returned home to Huntsville High School to teach chemistry, science, and modern math for one year.

J.R. was always interested in law enforcement. His grandfather on his mother’s side was a deputy sheriff in Pope County. While he was teaching, J.R. met two men who had an influence on his future career. One was a local state trooper who invited J.R. to ride with him several times. The other was an FBI agent who participated in career day at school.

After his year of teaching, J.R. went away for six months of active duty in the National Guard. When he returned, he began his career in law enforcement.

J.R. started with the highway patrol division in 1971 and worked as a uniformed officer for almost five years. Then he transferred to the criminal investigation division—a plain clothes division—where he spent the majority of his career. J.R. was promoted several times. He served as a Criminal Investigations Division Regional Commander, as the Executive Officer of the State Police, and as Commander of the Law Enforcement Operations Bureau. In February of 2004, Governor Mike Huckabee asked him to direct the State Crime Lab. During his tenure, he was able to obtain much-needed funding to hire additional personnel and upgrade equipment. As a result, the backlog of cases was reduced from over 16,000 cases to approximately 2,000 cases. J.R. held this position at the Crime Lab until he became U.S. Marshal.

“All of my jobs have been enjoyable,” J.R. said. “Looking back, it doesn’t seem like it’s been thirty-six years. Time has flown by.”

During these thirty-six years, J.R. investigated some of Arkansas’s most infamous criminals. Johnny Cox figures prominently in J.R.’s memory. On November 1, 1989, Johnny murdered three people in Kensett: he drugged them, stabbed them, tied them up, strangled them, and set them on fire. Johnny later confessed that he murdered his victims on All Saints’ Day because he believed they would go to heaven. When J.R. learned about the murders (the same night they took place), he was up for sixty-six straight hours working on the case. Johnny was arrested by J.R. and trooper Lindsey Williams on December 5 of that year, after a foot chase in a wooded area near Griffithville. While Johnny was in prison, he wrote J.R. several letters. Johnny Cox was executed in February of 1999, and J.R. attended at Johnny’s request.

J.R. also led the team who arrested the Blue Light Rapist. The Blue Light Rapist assaulted women after first luring them to the side of the road with a police-style blue light mounted on the dash of his car. He had been on the loose for two years. During this time, he raped seven women and had attempted rape numerous other times. In 1997, the state police Director asked J.R. to supervise a group of investigators dedicated to finding this criminal. Two weeks after J.R. formed this special team, they had identified the Blue Light Rapist. The team arrested him within a month of the beginning of the investigation.

J.R.’s career brought him on the television screen several times. The Abe Pipkin case was featured on the September 30, 2006, episode of Cold Case Files. Abe Pipkin, a Beebe policeman, was beaten to death on April 5, 1977. J.R. was the lead investigator. After a false confession from serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas and years of not having a conclusion, J.R. arrested Abe’s killer in 2002, twenty-five years after the murder.

J.R.’s involvement in the Carson Prince case led to his appearing on America’s Most Wanted. Carson was the daughter of former Little Rock Mayor Tom Prince. In April of 1999, Carson Prince was forced into a vehicle in Maumelle. Witnesses say she struggled with the driver while traveling on the I-430 river bridge. Then, Carson was pushed or chose to jump off the bridge. She died later that night. Although the crime happened in the middle of the day with several witnesses, the man driving the truck was not identified until five and a half years later.

“When someone is a victim of a crime, family members depend on the investigators to help,” J.R. said. “Identifying the person responsible doesn’t fix everything, but it helps the family have closure. It is fulfilling to help people in ways they can’t help themselves.”

In addition to being on TV, J.R. also had input in the making of a movie. To prepare for his role as the sympathetic detective in the movie Thelma and Louise, Harvey Keitel shadowed J.R. for two days.

“I had the opportunity to read the script,” J.R. said, “and even made a couple of changes to make it more accurate.”

During these two days, Keitel joined the Howards for dinner at their home. Kathy, J.R.’s wife, made poppy seed chicken. After dinner, the Howard girls had softball practice, and Keitel joined the Howards on this family outing.

“My jobs have put me in contact with people from all walks of life,” J.R. said. I’ve met people who have committed horrible crimes, and I’ve also met some of the finest people around.”

In the latter category, J.R.’s career brought him in contact with Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He has also met King Abdullah of Jordan.

J.R. and Kathy, who is the director of the psychology department at Harding University, celebrated their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary on July 22 of this year. They have two daughters: Lindsey Bell, who is an attorney in Little Rock, and Leigh Howard, who is a pediatrics resident at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville. The Howards are also the proud grandparents of John Howard Bell.