Since his election to the Alabama Senate in 2006, Senator Arthur Orr has sponsored and passed legislation to address the high school student drop-out rate, put the state’s checkbook online, improve campaign finance reporting, remove racist language from the state constitution, and support volunteer firefighters and free medical clinics. Senator Orr serves as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Taxation Education.
He was instrumental in the formation and development of the Robotics Technology Park, The Alabama Center for the Arts, and the Alabama School for Cyber Technology and Engineering.
Senator Orr had a distinguished academic record at both Wake Forest University and University of Alabama School of Law. After graduation, while his classmates pursued legal careers, Arthur joined the Peace Corps. He was assigned to a remote Himalayan village in Nepal, where he lived primitively with no indoor plumbing and dirt floors, teaching in the village school and conducting teacher training.
After completing his Peace Corps commitment, he returned to Decatur and practiced law. As a consequence of his community service, Arthur was selected “Citizen of the Year” by the Decatur Rotary Club, and was honored as a "Community Hero" to carry the 1996 Olympic Torch in Morgan County.
Although Arthur was a partner in a law firm and active in his community, he felt led to return overseas to do what he could to help the poor in the developing world. He was hired by Habitat for Humanity International and was assigned to establish a new Habitat program in Bangladesh. That program has constructed more than 1,000 houses.
A long-time adult Sunday school teacher and men's Bible study member, Arthur and his wife Amy and their two children are members of First Bible Church in Decatur.