In 2008, Malone was elected in House District 64 over Democrat Mike Bock of Fort Smith, 4,946 to 4,068, for the seat vacated by the Republican Jim Medley.
In 2010, Malone was renominated in the Republican primary over Gary Campbell of Fort Smith, 1,404 to 816. She was then unopposed in the general election for her second term. In 2012, Malone was switched to House District 77, which had been represented by term-limited Democrat Charolette Douglas. In the general election, she defeated Democrat Doris Tate, 5,756 to 4,308. Malone was the chairman of the House Rules Committee and sat on these panels as well: Budget, Insurance and Commerce, and Public Health, Welfare and Labor. Representative Malone in 2013 joined the majority 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. Malone supported or co-sponsored 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 a fetus a felony in certain cases. She co-sponsored a spending cap in the state budget, but the measure failed to gain approval by two votes in the House. Malone backed the bill to allow university officials to carry concealed weapons on campus. Similarly, she co-sponsored legislation to allow officials in churches and religious institutions allow the carrying of concealed weapons in places of worship. She voted to prohibit the governor from regulating firearms in an emergency. Malone supported legislation to make the office of prosecuting attorney in Arkansas nonpartisan. She did not vote on 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. She voted against a failed proposal to prohibit the closure of schools based on declining enrollments over a two-year period. She voted for the tiered system of lottery scholarships. In 2011, Malone in District 64 opposed dress codes for public schools. She backed curriculum standards for Bible instruction in public schools. She voted for the Capital Gains Reduction Act and for a tax reduction on manufacturers' utilities. She voted to administer driver's license tests only in the English language. She voted against the prohibition of cell phone use in school zones. Malone voted against the congressional redistricting bill. In 2009, Malone voted against an increase in the state minimum wage and opposed as well the expansion of eligibility for the children's health insurance program. She voted in the minority against a measure to make failure to use a seat belt a primary offense. She voted to allow unlicensed assistants to perform simple medical procedures. Malone opposed a bill seeking to manipulate the electoral college to obtain direct popular election of the U.S. President. Malone was term-limited in 2014 and was succeeded in the House by her fellow Republican, Justin Boyd, a pharmacist in Alma, who resides in Fort Smith.
