Jimmie Lou Fisher

Jimmie Lou Fisher didn’t need anyone to tell her about the complicated process of enrolling for Medicare and Social Security. As she says, she already had been through that “minefield” herself.

So, when Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked Jimmie Lou to join his staff to advocate for senior citizens and their rights, the longtime public servant was eager to help others.

“I worried what people my age would do if they didn’t have someone to help them,” she said.

Jimmie Lou began working at the Attorney General’s Office in 2007, following a distinguished career that included more than two decades as State Treasurer. She was first elected to public office as Greene County treasurer in 1971. Then-Gov. Bill Clinton appointed her as State Auditor in 1979, and she won election as Treasurer two years later. Jimmie Lou served as treasurer for 22 years and is the longest-serving state treasurer in Arkansas history.

Jimmie Lou was the Democratic candidate for governor in 2002.

She works to alert senior citizens to scams, fraud and the types of phone and mail marketers that attempt to prey on older Arkansans. She leads and helps organize “Protecting Arkansans,” a series of town hall meetings across the state that focus on health-care costs, insurance and money management.

“All these people dealing with this are my age, they’re my friends,” Jimmie Lou said. “This gives me an opportunity to give back to all my friends and neighbors who have helped me all these years through my public service.”

She was the Arkansas Easter Seals “Arkansan of the Year” in 1997 and has won awards from the National Association of State Treasurers and the National Association of Democratic Women, among others.

Jimmie Lou lives in Little Rock and is a member of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church.