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Arkansas House Bill HB1674

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1674 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 526 of the Regular Session
32 *ANS350* 3/17/2023 12:28:08 PM ANS350
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54 State of Arkansas 1
65 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
76 Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1674 3
87 4
98 By: Representative McCollum 5
109 By: Senator Hester 6
1110 7
1211 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1312 AN ACT CONCERNING TH E CONSUMER PROTECTIO N DIVISION OF 9
1413 THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 'S OFFICE; TO AMEND THE LAW 10
1514 CONCERNING SETTLEMEN T FUNDS HELD BY THE ATTORNEY 11
1615 GENERAL'S OFFICE; AN D FOR OTHER PURPOSES . 12
1716 13
1817 14
1918 Subtitle 15
2019 CONCERNING THE CONSUMER PROTECTION 16
2120 DIVISION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S 17
2221 OFFICE; AND TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING 18
2322 SETTLEMENT FUNDS HELD BY THE ATTORNEY 19
2423 GENERAL'S OFFICE. 20
2524 21
2625 22
2726 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
2827 24
2928 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 4 -88-105(e), concerning the expenses and 25
3029 funds of the Consumer Protection Division of the office of the Attorney 26
3130 General, is amended to read as follows: 27
3231 (e) The expenses of the division shall be paid from funds provided for 28
3332 that purpose by law, including without limitation: 29
3433 (1) Funds made available by the state, a state agency, or a 30
3534 state political subdivision; 31
3635 (2) Funds made available by the United States Government or a 32
3736 federal agency; or 33
3837 (3)(A) Funds deposited into a Consumer Education and Enforcement 34
3938 Account under § 25-16-718, managed by the division, from settlements or 35
4039 judgments in favor of the state related to a lawsuit or assurance of 36 HB1674
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4544 voluntary compliance in which the state was a party. 1
4645 (B) The account shall not carry a balance greater than one 2
4746 million dollars ($1,000,000), and the funds in the account shall be used in a 3
4847 manner determined by the office of the Attorney General Attorney General's 4
4948 office, including without limitation: 5
5049 (i) Litigation support; 6
5150 (ii) Expert witness fees; 7
5251 (iii) Court filing fees; 8
5352 (iv) Process server fees; 9
5453 (v) Witness fees; 10
5554 (vi) Court costs; 11
5655 (vii) Court reporter fees; 12
5756 (viii) Attorney and staff training; 13
5857 (ix) Travel expenses; 14
5958 (x) Consumer education; 15
6059 (xi) Office expenses and improvements; and 16
6160 (xii) Investigation expenses. 17
6261 18
6362 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 4 -88-105(f), concerning settlement funds in 19
6463 lawsuits involving the office of the Attorney General, is repealed. 20
6564 (f)(1) As used in this section, “state agency” includes without 21
6665 limitation: 22
6766 (A) A state agency, office, or department; 23
6867 (B) A board or commission; and 24
6968 (C) A public college or university. 25
7069 (2) When a settlement is agreed to or a judgment is entered in a 26
7170 lawsuit in which the state is a party receiving all or part of the settlement 27
7271 or judgment, the Attorney General shall distribute the funds in the following 28
7372 manner: 29
7473 (A) Restitution to Arkansas consumers or state agencies, 30
7574 or for other purposes, as designated by the court order or settlement 31
7675 agreement; 32
7776 (B) Designation of cash funds to a state agency having a 33
7877 nexus to the underlying litigation; 34
7978 (C) Payment of attorney's fees or civil penalties under § 35
8079 4-88-113(a)(1), § 4-88-113(c), or § 4-88-113(e); or 36 HB1674
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8584 (D) Payment into the account, as authorized by this 1
8685 section. 2
8786 (3)(A) Funds to be distributed as described in subdivisions 3
8887 (f)(2)(B)-(D) of this section shall be distributed in the manner prescribed 4
8988 by this section within one hundred twenty (120) days of the receipt of the 5
9089 funds. 6
9190 (B) Restitution funds shall be distributed to Arkansas 7
9291 consumers as soon as is practicable and in accordance with any applicable 8
9392 court order. 9
9493 (4)(A) The office of the Attorney General shall on a quarterly 10
9594 basis provide to the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee a report 11
9695 of all cash funds received from court orders or settlement agreements. 12
9796 (B) The report shall include: 13
9897 (i) The case name of the court order or settlement 14
9998 agreement; 15
10099 (ii) The amount of funds received by the office of 16
101100 the Attorney General for eac h court order or settlement agreement; and 17
102101 (iii)(a) A plan for disbursement of the funds. 18
103102 (b) If cash funds received from a court order 19
104103 or settlement agreement are expended for any purpose, including consumer 20
105104 education and enforcement activities , the report must itemize specific 21
106105 activities subject to the exclusions provided in § 4 -88-111 and § 25-1-22
107106 403(1)(B). 23
108107 (c) The report shall also itemize the specific 24
109108 consumer education and enforcement activities funded for the office of the 25
110109 Attorney General. 26
111110 (C) If funds received from a court order or settlement 27
112111 agreement are given to a specific entity by the office of the Attorney 28
113112 General, the report shall include: 29
114113 (i)(a) Whether or not the court order or settlement 30
115114 agreement directed funds to be given to a specific entity. 31
116115 (b) If the court order or settlement agreement 32
117116 directs funds to a specific entity, the office of the Attorney General shall 33
118117 provide a summary of input regarding the drafting of the court order or 34
119118 settlement agreement. 35
120119 (c) If the office of the Attorney General 36 HB1674
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125124 receives funds from a court order or settlement agreement that does not 1
126125 require disbursement of funds to a specific entity, the office of the 2
127126 Attorney General shall report a rationale for disbursing funds to a specific 3
128127 entity; and 4
129128 (ii) A report of current balances of all 5
130129 unappropriated cash fund holdings received by court order or settlement 6
131130 agreement by the office of the Attorney General. 7
132131 (D) The quarterly reports shall be provided no later than 8
133132 the fifteenth day of the month immediately following the end of each quarter. 9
134133 10
135134 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 19 -4-817(b), concerning the use of cash 11
136135 funds by constitutional officers, is amended to read as follows: 12
137136 (b) The Except cash funds whose distribution is controlled by a court 13
138137 order or settlement agreement, the General Assembly shall budget, approve, 14
139138 and appropriate expenditures of cash funds by the enactment of separate 15
140139 appropriation bills setting forth the purpose for which the moneys are to be 16
141140 expended and the dollar amount to be expended for that purpose. 17
142141 18
143142 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code Title 25, Chapter 16, Subchapter 7, is 19
144143 amended to add an additional section to read as follows: 20
145144 25-16-718. Use of settlement funds. 21
146145 (a) When a settlement is agreed to or a judgment is entered in a 22
147146 lawsuit in which the state is a party receiving all or part of the funds from 23
148147 the settlement or judgment, the Attorney General shall create and maintain 24
149148 accounts as necessary to receive the funds. 25
150149 (b) The Attorney General sh all distribute the funds as: 26
151150 (1)(A) Restitution to Arkansas consumers or state agencies or 27
152151 for other purposes as designated by the court order or settlement agreement; 28
153152 (B) Funds distributed under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of this 29
154153 section shall be distri buted to Arkansas consumers as soon as practicable and 30
155154 according to any applicable court order. 31
156155 (2) Cash funds to a state agency having a nexus to the 32
157156 underlying litigation; 33
158157 (3) Payment of attorney’s fees or civil penalties under § 4 -88-34
159158 113(a)(1), § 4-88-113(c), or § 4-88-113(e); 35
160159 (4) Required under § 4 -88-105, if the funds are deposited into 36 HB1674
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165164 the Consumer Education and Enforcement Account; or 1
166165 (5) Payment for personal services, miscellaneous operating 2
167166 expenses, or grants of the Attorney General's office. 3
168167 (c)(1) The Attorney General's office shall provide a quarterly report 4
169168 to the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee of all cash funds 5
170169 received from court orders or settlement agreements. 6
171170 (2) The report shall include: 7
172171 (A) The case name of the court order or settlement 8
173172 agreement; 9
174173 (B) The amount of funds received by the Attorney General's 10
175174 office for each court order or settlement agreement; and 11
176175 (C)(i) A plan for disbursement of the funds. 12
177176 (ii) If cash funds received from a court order or 13
178177 settlement agreement are expended for any purpose, the report shall itemize 14
179178 specific activities subject to the exclusions provided in § 4 -88-111 and § 15
180179 25-1-403(1)(B). 16
181180 (iii) The report shall also itemize the specific 17
182181 consumer education and enforcement activities funded for the Attorney 18
183182 General's office. 19
184183 (3) If funds received from a court order or settlement agreement 20
185184 are given to a specific entity by the Attorney General's office, the report 21
186185 shall include: 22
187186 (A)(i) A statement rega rding whether the court order or 23
188187 settlement agreement directed funds to be given to a specific entity; 24
189188 (ii) If the court order or settlement agreement 25
190189 directs funds be given to a specific entity, the Attorney General's office 26
191190 shall provide a summary o f input regarding the drafting of the court order or 27
192191 settlement agreement. 28
193192 (iii) If the Attorney General's office receives 29
194193 funds from a court order or settlement agreement that does not require 30
195194 disbursement of funds to a specific entity, the Attorney General's office 31
196195 shall report a rationale for disbursing funds to a specific entity; and 32
197196 (B) A report of current balances of all unappropriated 33
198197 cash fund holdings received by court order or settlement agreement by the 34
199198 Attorney General's office. 35
200199 (4) The quarterly reports shall be provided no later than the 36 HB1674
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205204 fifteenth day of the month immediately following the end of each quarter. 1
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