The command authority of the department's Highway Patrol Division is divided into two regions. Troops G, H, I, J, K & L are under the authority of the Western Region Commander, Troops A, B, C, D, E & F are under the authority of the Eastern Region Commander.

Major Les Braunns joined the department in April 1979 and was initially assigned to Troop L, Madison County. He was promoted to sergeant in 1996 and is 2000 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned as assistant commander to Highway Patrol, Troop I at Harrison.

As captain he assumed command of Highway Patrol, Troop L at Springdale in 2003 and was later promoted in 2008 to the rank of major assigned to the command staff of State Police Director, Colonel Winford Phillips.

Major Braunns was appointed to western region Highway Patrol commander in August of 2008 and he is a 1999 graduate of staff command school..

Information obtained from an Arkansas State Police fatal crash summary represents only the initial findings by an investigating law enforcement officer. The summaries are not considered official reports of a highway crash investigation, but merely a summary of preliminary information presented to an investigating officer. The information contained in a summary may not represent the facts eventually placed on file in the official final report.