Phillips County's Martin Rawls named to Delta State Under 40 class

Martin Rawls of Phillips County was named to Delta State University’s Under 40 class of 2026, putting a Phillips County justice of the peace among 35 young alumni recognized for professional achievement, community service and support for the university. For Rawls, the honor ties directly to a career and public record built in the Arkansas Delta, where local leadership often lands closest to the daily issues of schools, roads, emergency response and county government.

Delta State launched the Under 40 program in July 2025 as a relatively new alumni recognition effort. The university describes the award as a way to honor young alumni who are making meaningful contributions in their professions, in their communities and for the DSU family. The 2026 class included 35 honorees, underscoring how quickly the program has become a marker for alumni who are still shaping their home regions while advancing in their fields.

Rawls’ path runs through Phillips Community College and Delta State University. A biography posted online says he earned an Associate of Arts degree from Phillips Community College, a Bachelor of Social Science Education from Delta State University and a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Delta State University. That education profile matters in Phillips County, where young professionals often leave for larger markets after college and where every example of a graduate returning home carries weight.

He was born and raised in Helena and now lives in Marvell, keeping his ties centered in Phillips County even as his work has reached beyond a single town. Rawls serves as Phillips County Justice of the Peace for District 8, one of 11 members on the county’s quorum court, with justices elected to two-year terms from districts across the county. That seat places him inside the body that helps shape county decisions on public spending and local priorities.

Rawls has also appeared in recent Phillips County discussions over emergency communications and access to the Arkansas Wireless Information Network radio system, an issue that touches dispatch reliability and public safety coordination. In a county where emergency response depends on clear radio access and working relationships between local offices, those debates carry practical consequences well beyond the courthouse.

The Under 40 recognition places Rawls in a Delta State alumni class meant to spotlight young leaders with real connections to the Mississippi Delta and surrounding communities. In Phillips County, where schools, public offices and service networks are tightly linked, his selection reads less like a ceremonial nod than a signal of the kinds of careers local institutions can still help produce and keep at home.