Preston Bynum

{{Infobox officeholder

| birth_name = Preston Conrad Bynum

| image =

| office = Arkansas State Representative
for Benton County

| party = Republican

| term_start = January 1, 1969

| term_end = December 31, 1980

| preceded = Jim Sheets

| succeeded = Jerry E. Hinshaw

| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|6|8}}

| birth_place = Pryor Creek, Oklahoma, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|10|31|1939|6|8}}

| death_place = Lakeland, Florida, U.S.

| resting_place = Oak Hill Cemetery

| residence =

| occupation = Politician
Lobbyist

| spouse = Linda Allen Brown

| footnotes =

}}

Preston Conrad Bynum (June 8, 1939 – October 31, 2018) was a lobbyist in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, who served as a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from January 1969 to December 1980.

Political career

Bynum was born in Pryor Creek, Oklahoma. He was an automobile dealer, with the Bynum Motor Company, the family business, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas when he was elected to the Arkansas General Assembly. Bynum died at his home in Lakeland, Florida, from heart failure.[https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/nov/1/bynum-former-legislator-dies-of-heart-f/ Bynum, former state legislator, dies of heart failure] He succeeded fellow Republican Jim Sheets and became one of only four Republicans in the 100-member House.Arkansas Outlook (Arkansas State Republican Party newsletter), February 1970.The other Republican legislators at the time were George E. Nowotny of Fort Smith, Danny L. Patrick of Madison County, and Marshall Chrisman of Ozark

During his third term in the House from 1973 to 1974, Bynum was the only Republican in the chamber. In 1974, he announced that he would run for governor but withdrew,{{cite web|url=http://www.politics.com/library/governor.doc|title=Directory of Governor Candidates|publisher=politics.com|accessdate=May 31, 2012}} and the nomination went to Ken Coon.State of Arkansas, Secretary of State, General election returns, November 5, 1974 He eventually served as the senior Republican member and the minority party leader of the House.

Bynum did not seek reelection in 1980 but instead served as chief of staff to Governor Frank D. White after White switched his affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Bynum and House colleague Carolyn Pollan of Fort Smith prepared the state budget by retaining previous figures from the Bill Clinton administration but with 5 percent across-the-board cuts.{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=125|title=Frank Durward White (1933-2003)|publisher=encyclopediaofarkansas.net|accessdate=May 15, 2010}}

Lobbying

After leaving office, Bynum lobbied for a number of Arkansas clients through his Phoenix Investment Group, Inc., of Little Rock.{{cite web|url=http://projects.publicintegrity.org/hiredguns/reg.aspx?state=AR|title=Ex-legislators registered to lobby, 2005|publisher=projects.publicintegrity.org|accessdate=May 15, 2010}} He is a member of the Association of General Contractors.{{cite web|url=http://www.agcar.net/content/public/overview/board_pictures_.asp|title=Board and Business Meeting Pictures|publisher=agcar.net|accessdate=May 14, 2010}} He was hired to represent the interests of Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.Northwest Arkansas Community College, nwaac.edu Bynum was named to the government affairs team of the Arkansas Independent Automobile Dealers Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-97876882.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074346/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-97876882.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2016|title=Preston Bynum and Eric Munson (born 1966) have been named to the Arkansas Independent Automobile Dealers Association, February 3, 2003|publisher=highbeam.com|accessdate=May 31, 2012}}David Smith, "Grand jury, SEC, IRS study Stephens' Pensacola deal", Arkansas Business, August 15, 1994

=Bribery=

While employed as a lobbyist for the investment banking firm Stephens, Inc., Bynum was indicted for bribery in January 1995 by a federal grand jury. The U.S. government charged that Bynum paid Terry Duwayne Busbee, then a commissioner of the Utility Authority of Escambia County, Florida, to steer bond-underwriting business to Stephens, Inc. Two months later, Bynum pleaded guilty to a single count of bribery.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/04/business/bond-bribery-guilty-pleas.html?scp=2&sq=&st=nyt|title=Bond-Bribery Guilty Pleas|work=The New York Times |date=4 March 1995 |accessdate=May 31, 2012}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/25/business/lobbyist-is-barred-in-civil-fraud-case.html

|title=Lobbyist Is Barred in Civil Fraud Case|work=The New York Times |date=25 May 1995 |accessdate=May 31, 2012}}

Under a plea bargain, he was fined $25,000 and given a two-year federal prison sentence. He was further forbidden to represent clients in the securities business for the rest of his life.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/about/annual_report/1995.pdf|title=United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 1995 Annual Report, pp. 11-12|accessdate=December 5, 2011}} Bynum reported to federal prison in July 1995. In the fall of 1996, he was allowed to finish his sentence at the St. Francis House, a halfway facility in Little Rock. He was given use of his old offices at Stephens, Inc., to prepare for his future employment.Preston Darrell, "Former Stephens lobbyist Preston C. Bynum looking to life after prison," The Bond Buyer, November 1, 1996. He was released on July 1, 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Preston&Middle=C&LastName=Bynum&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=72&x=123&y=45.|title=United States Bureau of Prisonsbop.gov|accessdate=May 31, 2012}}

Personal life

Bynum married the former Linda Allen and they have 4 daughters. Leasa, Angela, Charlotte, Rebecca."Preston Bynum", Who's Who in America (Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 2000), p. 681.

{{Portal bar|Biography|United States|Politics|Business and Economics}}

{{succession box|

before=James Lee "Jim" Sheets|

title=Arkansas State Representative
for Benton County

|years=1969–1980

|after=Jerry E. Hinshaw}}