Austin McCollum, a 35-year-old Republican former Arkansas state representative and circuit judge from Bentonville, has been accused of violent and degrading behaviour by his wife, Ragen Ashlee McCollum, who has won a two-year order of protection against him. McCollum was arrested on 1 August on charges including aggravated assault and domestic abuse, subsequently resigned from office, and is due to be arraigned on 8 September; he denies the allegations and has countersued his wife over alleged marijuana use in front of their children, which she disputes.

In court filings and testimony, Ragen alleged McCollum demanded she act as a submissive "Proverbs 31" wife while subjecting her to demeaning sexual demands, including directing her to "make out" with another man and saying she had to smoke marijuana before sex so she would not flinch. Her divorce complaint, filed on 7 August, also describes alleged physical violence such as punching, choking and hair-pulling, a suicide note McCollum reportedly wrote in February, and claims he offered to help her end her life while she suffered postpartum depression. McCollum has since moved out of the couple's $900,000 farmhouse into a $1.5 million bachelor pad, and the case has ended his political career.