Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rodgers Will Defend The People

Her given name means "defender of the people," while her surname means "ride and go."

Sandra Reyenga Rodgers is working to live up to the meaning of her name, as she hopes to go to the Arkansas Legislature and defend the people.

Being a representative of the people is Rodgers' goal for the position of State Representative for District 28.

Rodgers said the people's input would be her output as a legislator.

She brings in a great deal of experience working within the legal community. Rodgers spent 12 years as a legal secretary, where she worked on programs ranging from rural water projects to capital murder criminal cases.

Rodgers also worked with the South Central Drug Task Force for about six years. During this time, she worked with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Additionally, Rodgers has successfully written grants and helping get drug dealers sentenced to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

While with the task force, Rodgers helped get five drug dealers sentenced to life for their crimes.

She said juvenile crime will be one of her main areas of interest as a legislator. The current juvenile code, she said, is a joke.

Rodgers said she'd like to see juvenile offenders placed in group homes or halfway houses, which have proven to be successful.

The problem, she said, is when the youths are returned to their former environment and go back to their old ways of life. The young criminals need a structured way of life, she said.

Additionally, Rodgers plans on working to change the Medicare system and make sure the elderly and handicapped are not left out in the cold.

She said education is another priority, and she supports school vouchers. "Education has to be brought back to the people," Rodgers said. "This (the educational) system needs a lot of changes. The power should be in the district's control."

Rodgers said with the required minimum teacher's salaries, several districts teachers are "locked in" where they are because other areas can't afford to hire them.

Rodgers is a lifelong resident of Nevada and Hempstead County, graduating from Laneburg High School. She studied pre-engineering at Henderson State University, and plans on completing her degree after her own children are out of school.

Rodgers and her husband, Danny, have two children, Damian, 16, and Whitney, 14. Her husband is the deputy prosecuting attorney for the Eighth Judicial District.

She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Hope, where she and her husband serve on the Youth Council and teach High School Discipleship Training.

Rodgers is also a member of the Southwest Arkansas Arts Council.

Her civic activities include being the vice-chairman of the Nevada County Fair Board, founder and director of the Nevada County Youth Talent Show, and board member of Operation Breadbasket.

Rodgers is also the co-founder and director of the Prescott Pee Wee Basketball League. In addition, she is the assistant director and drug counselor of the Adjutant General's Drug Demand Reduction Camp at Ouachita Baptist University.

Her areas of special study include drug abuse, psychological profiling and youth gangs. Rodgers has worked on the Nevada County Election Commission, serving as commission chairman. She has also been on the Nevada County Democratic Central Committee and was a delegate to the State Democratic Convention.

She sees the need for tougher laws concerning weapons in public buildings. Rodgers said it is a felony offense to have a weapon on school grounds, yet it's only a misdemeanor to carry a weapon in a courtroom.

Rodgers said her family came to America from the Netherlands. Her grandfather was the first person in Nevada County to export Irish potatoes from the area.

She and Danny recently moved to the Rocky Mound area in Hempstead County to be close to her mother, Elsie Reyenga. Her father was the late James Reyenga.

In her spare time, Rodgers likes to hunt and fish for bass. She also enjoys drawing, sculpting and robotics.

"I want to be the representative of all the people (of the district)," she said. "I will call on the people with expertise in different areas for advice.

"My roots will always be here (in Nevada County," Rodgers said.