As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Employee” means a person whose employment is not seasonal or temporary and whose actual performance of duty requires one thousand (1,000) or more hours during a fiscal year;
(2) “Public official” means:
(A) The Secretary of State, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, Attorney General, Commissioner of State Lands, a member of the Senate, or a member of the House of Representatives; and
(B) The executive head of any agency, department, board, commission, institution, bureau, or council of this state;
(3) “Relative” means a husband, wife, mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter, son, stepdaughter, stepson, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, or niece;
(4) “State agency” means:
(A) All boards, commissions, departments, agencies, institutions, state-supported institutions of higher learning, and offices of constitutional officers of the State of Arkansas; and
(B) The General Assembly, including divisions, commissions, and bureaus operating under the authority of the General Assembly; and
(5) “Supervisory employee” means any individual having:
(A) Authority in the interest of the state agency to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees of a state agency; or
(B) The responsibility to direct other employees of a state agency, to adjust their grievances, or to effectively recommend an action if the exercise of authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.
