The Nebraska Brand Committee has a new executive director.
The Committee voted 5-0 to hire Don Arp, the former head of the Nebraska Crime Commission, to replace outgoing Executive Director John Widdowson, during a special meeting on Wednesday, November 15.
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The announcement came after a nearly two-hour executive session during the special meeting. Committee chairman Duane Gangwish said that the committee had received 24 applications for the position and that the committee narrowed the pool down to three finalists who were interviewed for the job. Committee member Steve Stroup, a cow/calf producer from Benkelman, made the motion to announce Arp’s hiring.
Arp most recently served as director of the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, (more commonly known as the Crime Commission), an agency that enforces jail and police standards, administers grants to state law enforcement agencies and oversees crime victim support programs, among other duties.
Arp submitted his resignation from that post to Gov. Jim Pillen in June, stating that he wished to “pursue career interests outside of state government.”
Arp was the subject of concerns regarding the mismanagement of the state’s Crime Victim’s Reparations program as reported by the Flatwater Free Press.
Arp also drew criticism, as reported by the Nebraska Examiner, in January 2022 for not immediately implementing pay raises that the Legislature had granted for state law enforcement center training officers.
