Brent was appointed as Commissioner to the Arkansas Sentencing Commission in 2005 by Governor Mike Huckabee and then was reappointed to that post by Governor Huckabee.  Subsequently, Governor Mike Beebe reappointed Brent to that position and most recently Governor Asa Hutchinson reappointed Brent to the Commission.  All told, Brent has served a period of fourteen years as Commissioner and not only has Brent served as Commissioner, but also he has taught numerous sentencing law seminars for the Commission to criminal justice professionals from all over the State of Arkansas.

The purpose of the Arkansas Sentencing Commission is to establish sentencing standards and to monitor the impact of practices, policies, and existing laws on the correctional resources of the state.  The Commission is charged by the Arkansas Legislature with creating and maintaining sentencing orders which are used daily by criminal court judges all over the state.  Additionally, an important task of the Commission is to establish, maintain, and revise the Arkansas Sentencing Guidelines which are also used by criminal court judges around the state.  The guidelines provide valuable assistance to judges by aiding them in imposing a fair and just sentence for those convicted of crimes, considering history and background of the offender as well as the nature of the offense which was committed.

The public rightfully regards sentencing as one of the most important aspects of our criminal justice system and indeed for the public to have confidence in our system of criminal justice as a whole then sentencing must be regarded as fair.