In 1999, Gillam obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Counseling from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He first attended the ASU branch campus at Beebe in White County. Gilliam and his wife, Carissa have two sons, Alexander and Jaxon Gillam. He has operated Gillam Farms since his college graduation in 1999.
Political life
In 2010, Gillam was elected in House District 49, when the Republican incumbent, Jonathan Dismang, instead ran successfully for the Arkansas Senate. After a primary victory, Gillam defeated Democrat Jesse Boyce, 5,228 to 2,594. In 2012, Gillam was unopposed for the Republican nomination for his second two-year term when he was switched to House District 45. No Democrat filed for the seat. Gillam instead handily defeated the Green Party nominee, Travis Mason, 6,958 to 1,403. The incumbent Democratic representative, Linda Tyler, ran for election in Senate District 35. Gillam is a member of the Arkansas Legislative Council and serves on these House committees: Energy, Judiciary, Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development, and Rules. In 2013, Representative Gillam supported a spending cap on the state budget, but the bill failed by a two-vote margin in the House. He voted to override the vetoes of Democratic Governor Mike Beebe to enact legislation to require photo identification for casting a ballot in Arkansas and to ban abortion after twenty weeks of gestation. Gillam supported related legislation to ban abortion whenever fetal heartbeat is detected, to forbid the inclusion of abortion in the state insurance exchange, and to make the death of an fetus a felony in certain cases. He voted to allow university officials to carry weapons on campus. He supported legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. He supported the bill, signed by Governor Beebe, to permit the sale of up to five hundred gallons per month of unpasteurizedwhole milk directly from the farm to consumers. In 2011, Gillam in District 49 co-sponsored legislation to permit weapons in religious institutions. He supported a dress code for public schools. He backed curriculum standards for biblical instruction in public schools. He voted for the Capital Gains Reduction Act. He voted to prohibit driver's license tests in languages other than English. On January 31, 2011, Gillam voted against legislation to prohibit cell phone use in school zone; the next day, he and several colleagues reversed themselves, and the proposal passed, fifty-three to forty-one. In late 2017, he announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election to the House in 2018.
