Linda Collins-Smith

On June 4, 2019, Collins-Smith's body was found outside her home in Pocahontas; she had died of stab wounds (initially reported as gunshot wounds). Her neighbors reported hearing gunfire "a day or two" before. The arrest affidavit released, partially redacted, on July 30 reveal that cause of death was stab wounds and she was found outside her home by her son and father.

On June 17, 2019, Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell of Pocahontas, a former campaign worker and personal friend of Collins-Smith, was charged with capital murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. O'Donnell is being held without bond. O'Donnell pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

In 2017, Collins-Smith introduced Senate Bill 774, the Arkansas Physical Privacy and Safety Act, which would prohibit people, including transgender people, from entering government restrooms or changing facilities designated for the opposite sex, as it pertains to "a person’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.” She said the bill would set a baseline for privacy across the state and shield public schools from lawsuits by organizations "seeking to impose their anti-privacy agenda on our children." It did not pass.

Collins-Smith was married to Philip Smith, a circuit court judge who was disgraced after a 2017 scandal. She filed for divorce that November. They had two children and three grandchildren.

In redistricting, Collins-Smith was moved to the same 19th senatorial district as Republican incumbent Lori Benedict. Therefore, Collins-Smith chose to run for the Arkansas Senate in the 19th district, rather than challenge Benedict. Incumbent Democratic Senator David Wyatt defeated her in the 2012 general election, but on November 4, 2014, she beat Democrat James McLean for the seat. Wyatt died shortly thereafter.

Prior to her Senate service, Collins-Smith was a one-term member from 2011 to 2013 of the Arkansas House of Representatives from District 80. Though elected as a Democrat, she switched parties in August 2011, eight months after taking office.

Since at least 2001, Collins-Smith owned and operated the Days Inn in Pocahontas, which was sold in 2016. Before owning Days Inn she was a real estate agent. In 2012, Collins-Smith and her husband purchased a non-franchise motel, renovated and opened in 2013. The motel being the only business still owned by Collins-Smith at the time of her death.

Linda F. Collins-Smith (April 17, 1962 – c. June 2, 2019 ) was an American businesswoman and politician who served a single term from 2015 to 2019 as a Republican member of the Arkansas Senate from Pocahontas, Arkansas.