After his sophomore year, he taught school in several Arkansas counties until 1896, marrying Tera A. Smith on September 27, 1893.

[1] Futrell also farmed and worked in the timber industry before entering politics.

[2] Futrell was admitted to the bar in Arkansas in 1913 and practiced law in Paragould until his 1922 appointment to the Second Division of the Second Circuit Court.

In the 1932 general election, Futrell defeated the Republican J. O. Livesay, a lawyer from Foreman, who had also been the gubernatorial nominee against Harvey Parnell in 1930.

[4] As governor, he opposed state funding for education beyond the eighth grade, believing the federal government should provide such support.