Rep. Matthew Shepherd is the State Representative for District 97. Matthew was born and raised in El Dorado and graduated from El Dorado High School in 1994, where he was a letterman and captain of the football and basketball teams, as well as an honor graduate. He went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in History and Political Science from Ouachita Baptist University in 1998, where he was the outstanding graduate in both subjects. Matthew received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas, School of Law in 2001. Matthew is a practicing attorney in El Dorado at Law Offices Shepherd & Shepherd, P.A. He is a member of the Union County, Arkansas, and Louisiana Bar Associations, and is licensed to practice in the state courts of Arkansas and Louisiana; the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas, and the Western District of Louisiana; and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Matthew is a member of First Baptist Church of El Dorado, where he is a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher. He is a tenured member of the Arkansas Bar Association’s House of Delegates, and a member of the Union County Republican Committee and the El Dorado Boys and Girls Club Alumni Association, and a board member of the El Dorado Boys and Girls Club. He also is Chairman of the Boomtown Classic, Inc., which presents the Murphy USA Classic college football game. He formerly served on the boards of United Way of Union County, Union County Community Foundation, SHARE First Financial Bank Benefit Golf Tournament, Union County Habitat for Humanity and Hope Landing. Matthew is also a former member of the El Dorado Planning and Zoning Commission, the El Dorado Civil Service Commission, and the Union County Election Commission, and the former Chairman of the Union County Republican Committee. Additionally, Matthew devotes time in his law practice to pro bono work on behalf individuals and non-profits.

Matthew is married to his wife of twenty-five years, Alie, whom he met at Ouachita. Alie herself is active in the community as a former member of the El Dorado Service League, and is a Camp Fire leader and kindergarten teacher in the El Dorado School District. Alie formerly worked for Arkansans for Drug Free Youth.

Matthew and Alie have three children, Eli (twenty-one), Mary Kate (twenty), and Libby (fifteen), and make their home in El Dorado. Matthew is the son of Bob and Bobbi Shepherd. His father is a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and his mother is a retired El Dorado High School U.S. History teacher. Matthew has two siblings: Sarah and John Thomas.

In his free time Matthew enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, following the Arkansas Razorbacks, and serving as the radio play by play Voice of the El Dorado Wildcats football team.