Johnny currently serves as the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education. Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed Key to this post on May 22, 2019. Key also serves the state as the Commissioner of the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, a position he has held since 2015. Under Key’s leadership, the agency has concentrated on student-focused education with the mission of providing leadership, support, and service to schools, districts, and communities so that every graduate is prepared for college, career, and community engagement.

Before being named commissioner, Key served as associate vice president for university relations at the University of Arkansas System, a position he held since August 2014. Key was employed as a quality engineer at Baxter Healthcare Corporation in Mountain Home from 1991 until 2003.  He began his career in public service in 1997 when he was elected to serve as a justice of the peace on the Baxter County Quorum Court. He was elected in 2002 to the Arkansas House of Representatives, followed by a tenure in the Arkansas Senate that began in 2008. While in the Senate, Key served as chair of the Senate Education Committee; Arkansas Legislative Council Administrative Rules and Regulations Committee; Joint Retirement and Social Security Committee; and Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee.

Key and his wife, Shannon, live in Little Rock and have one son, Ryan, and one daughter, Rachel.

Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers, 2023.