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Arkansas House Bill HB1028

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1028 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
22 *JLL006* 11/20/2024 7:42:48 AM JLL006
33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1028 3
66 4
77 By: Representative A. Collins 5
88 6
99 7
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1111 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LIBRARIES; TO 9
1212 AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MATERIALS MADE AVAILABLE BY 10
1313 LIBRARIES; TO REPEAL PROVISIONS OF THE LAW CONCERNING 11
1414 THE PROCESS FOR CHALLENGING MATERIALS INCLUDED IN A 12
1515 LIBRARY; TO REPEAL THE OFFENSE OF FURNISHING A 13
1616 HARMFUL ITEM TO A MINOR; TO AMEND PROVISIONS IN THE 14
1717 CRIMINAL CODE CONCERNING OBSCENITY; TO REQUIRE A 15
1818 LIBRARY TO HAVE A WRITTEN POLICY PROHIBITING BOOK 16
1919 BANNING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE STATE FUNDING; TO AMEND 17
2020 THE LAW CONCERNING THE INFORMATION THAT A LIBRARY MAY 18
2121 DISCLOSE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 19
2222 20
2323 21
2424 Subtitle 22
2525 TO AMEND PROVISIONS OF THE LAW 23
2626 CONCERNING OBSCENITY AND THE PROCESS FOR 24
2727 CHALLENGING MATERIALS INCLUDED IN A 25
2828 LIBRARY; AND TO REQUIRE A LIBRARY TO 26
2929 HAVE A POLICY PROHIBITING BOOK BANNING 27
3030 IN ORDER TO RECEIVE STATE FUNDING. 28
3131 29
3232 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 30
3333 31
3434 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 5 -27-212 is repealed. 32
3535 5-27-212. Furnishing a harmful item to a minor. 33
3636 (a) As used in this section: 34
3737 (1) “Harmful to minors” means the same as defined in § 5 -68-501; 35
3838 (2) “Internet” means the combination of computer facilities and 36 HB1028
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4141 electromagnetic transmission media, and related equipment and software, 1
4242 comprising the interconnected worldwide network of computer networks that 2
4343 employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or any 3
4444 successor protocol to transmit information; 4
4545 (3) “Internet website” means a location where material placed in 5
4646 a computer server-based file archive is publicly accessible over the internet 6
4747 using hypertext transfer protocol or any successor protocol; and 7
4848 (4)(A) “Item” means a material or performance that depicts or 8
4949 describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic 9
5050 abuse, as those terms are defined in § 5 -68-501. 10
5151 (B) “Item” includes without limitation: 11
5252 (i) A book, leaflet, pamphlet, magazine, booklet, 12
5353 picture, drawing, photograph, film, negative, slide, motion picture, figure, 13
5454 object, article, novelty device, recording, transcription, live or recorded 14
5555 telephone message, or other similar item whether tangible or intangible; 15
5656 (ii) A performance, exhibition, transmission, or 16
5757 dissemination of any of the items listed in subdivision (a)(4)(B)(i) of this 17
5858 section; and 18
5959 (iii) A live performance or exhibition that depicts 19
6060 nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, as those 20
6161 terms are defined in § 5 -68-501, to the public or an audience of one (1) or 21
6262 more persons. 22
6363 (b) A person commits furnishing a harmful item to a minor if, knowing 23
6464 the character of the item involved, the person knowingly: 24
6565 (1) Furnishes, presents, provides, makes available, gives, 25
6666 lends, shows, advertises, or distributes to a minor an item that is harmful 26
6767 to minors; or 27
6868 (2) Transmits or sends to a person that he or she believes to be 28
6969 a minor by means of electronic mail, personal messaging, or any other direct 29
7070 internet communication an item that is harmful to minors when the person 30
7171 knows or believes at the time of the transmission that a minor in this state 31
7272 will receive the item. 32
7373 (c)(1) Subdivision (b)(1) of this section does not apply to the 33
7474 transmission or sending of items over the internet. 34
7575 (2) Subdivision (b)(2) of this section does not apply to: 35
7676 (A) Posting material on an internet website, bulletin 36 HB1028
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7979 board, or newsgroup; or 1
8080 (B) Sending material via a mailing list, listserv, or 2
8181 other method of internet communication in which a message is sent to an 3
8282 internet address and then retransmitted to one (1) or more subscribers, that 4
8383 is not administered by the sender. 5
8484 (d) Furnishing a harmful item to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor. 6
8585 7
8686 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 5 -68-308(c), concerning defenses to state 8
8787 standards that define and regulate obscenity, is amended to read as follows: 9
8888 (c) No employee, director, or trustee of a bona fide school, museum, 10
8989 or public library, acting within the scope of his or her regular employment, 11
9090 is liable to prosecution for a violation of this subchapter for disseminating 12
9191 a writing, film, slide, drawing, or other visual reproduction that is claimed 13
9292 to be obscene. 14
9393 15
9494 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 5 -68-405(a), concerning the possession, 16
9595 sale, or distribution of obscenity, is amended to read as follows: 17
9696 (a) A person that knowingly sends or causes to be sent or brings or 18
9797 causes to be brought into this state for sale or commercial distribution, or 19
9898 in this state prepares, publishes, sells, exhibits, loans at a library, or 20
9999 commercially distributes, or gives away or offers to give away or has in the 21
100100 person's possession with the purpose to sell or commercially distribute or to 22
101101 exhibit or to give away, obscene printed or written matter or material other 23
102102 than mailable matter, or any mailable matter known by the person to have been 24
103103 judicially found to be obscene under this subchapter, or that knowingly 25
104104 informs another of when, where, how, or from whom or by what means any of 26
105105 these things can be purchased or obtained, upon conviction is guilty of a 27
106106 Class D felony. 28
107107 29
108108 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 6 -25-105 is amended to read as follows: 30
109109 6-25-105. Establishment of guidelines for selection, relocation 31
110110 removal, and retention of materials. 32
111111 (a) Media centers shall have written policies to establish guidelines 33
112112 for the selection, relocation removal, and retention of physical materials 34
113113 that are available to the public . 35
114114 (b) The school district shall have a written policy for addressing 36 HB1028
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117117 challenged material that is physically present in the library and available 1
118118 to the public and meets the requirements stated in subsection (c) of this 2
119119 section. 3
120120 (c) A written policy adopted by a school district under subsection (b) 4
121121 of this section shall provide, at a minimum, the following: 5
122122 (1) A parent or guardian of a student affected by the material 6
123123 to be challenged or an employee of the school district may challenge the 7
124124 appropriateness of material available in the school district's media center; 8
125125 (2) The school district shall decide if material being 9
126126 challenged shall remain available throughout the challenge process; 10
127127 (3) Before a person can file a challenge, the person shall 11
128128 request a conference through the principal's office with a licensed media 12
129129 center employee; 13
130130 (4) Before a conference under subdivision (c)(3) of this section 14
131131 occurs, the school district shall provide a copy of the following to a person 15
132132 who requests a conference under subdivision (c)(3) of this section: 16
133133 (A) The written policy adopted by a school district under 17
134134 subsection (b) of this section; and 18
135135 (B) A form or other method by which a person may request a 19
136136 reconsideration of the appropriateness of the material being challenged; 20
137137 (5) After the conference requested under subdivision (c)(3) of 21
138138 this section occurs, if the person who requested the conference wants to 22
139139 formally challenge the appropriateness of the material that was the subject 23
140140 of the conference, the person shall complete and submit the request for 24
141141 reconsideration using the form or other method provided under subdivision 25
142142 (c)(4)(B) of this section to challenge the material that was the subject of 26
143143 the conference; 27
144144 (6)(A) In conducting a review of material being challenged, the 28
145145 principal of the school district shall select a committee of licensed 29
146146 personnel. 30
147147 (B) The principal or his or her designee shall be a member 31
148148 of the committee and may serve as the chair of the committee established 32
149149 under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section. 33
150150 (C) At least one (1) member of the committee established 34
151151 under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section shall be a media specialist. 35
152152 (D) The committee members who are not the principal or a 36 HB1028
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155155 media specialist shall be licensed personnel with curriculum knowledge 1
156156 appropriate for the material being challenged and be representative of 2
157157 diverse viewpoints; 3
158158 (7)(A) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 4
159159 this section shall determine if the material being challenged meets the 5
160160 criteria of selection. 6
161161 (B) Material being challenged: 7
162162 (i) Shall not be withdrawn solely for the viewpoints 8
163163 expressed within the material; and 9
164164 (ii) Shall be reviewed in its entirety and shall not 10
165165 have selected portions taken out of context; 11
166166 (8) The school district shall convene a meeting of the committee 12
167167 established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section after allowing a 13
168168 reasonable time for the committee members to adequately review the material 14
169169 being challenged and the request submitted under subdivision (c)(5) of this 15
170170 section by the person challenging the appropriateness of the material; 16
171171 (9) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 17
172172 this section shall allow the person who submitted the request under 18
173173 subdivision (c)(5) of this section to present his or her request to the 19
174174 committee; 20
175175 (10) After hearing from the person who submitted the request 21
176176 under subdivision (c)(5) of this section, the committee established under 22
177177 subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section shall meet to discuss the material 23
178178 being challenged; 24
179179 (11)(A) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 25
180180 this section shall vote to determine whether the material being challenged 26
181181 shall be relocated within the media center's collection to an area that is 27
182182 not accessible to minors under eighteen (18) years of age. 28
183183 (B) A member of the committee established under 29
184184 subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section who votes with the majority under 30
185185 subdivision (c)(11)(A) of this section shall write a summary of the reasons 31
186186 for the majority's decision. 32
187187 (C) Notice of the committee's decision under subdivision 33
188188 (c)(11)(A) of this section and the summary prepared under subdivision 34
189189 (c)(11)(B) of this section shall be given by hand or by certified mail to the 35
190190 person who submitted the request under subdivision (c)(5) of this section; 36 HB1028
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193193 (12)(A) If the committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) 1
194194 of this section decides not to relocate the material being challenged, the 2
195195 person who submitted the request under subdivision (c)(5) of this section may 3
196196 appeal the committee's decision to the board of directors for the school 4
197197 district by filing a written appeal to the superintendent within five (5) 5
198198 working days of the committee's decision or written receipt of the 6
199199 committee's decision. 7
200200 (B)(i) If a person appeals the decision of a committee 8
201201 under this subdivision (c)(12), the superintendent shall present the material 9
202202 being challenged, the request submitted by the person under subdivision 10
203203 (c)(5) of this section, the committee's decision under subdivision (c)(11)(A) 11
204204 of this section, and the summary prepared under subdivision (c)(11)(B) of 12
205205 this section to the board of directors within fifteen (15) days of the 13
206206 committee's decision. 14
207207 (ii) In addition to the information required to be 15
208208 provided under subdivision (c)(12)(B)(i) of this section, the superintendent 16
209209 may also include the administration's recommendation regarding the appeal 17
210210 submitted under this subdivision (c)(12). 18
211211 (C)(i) The members of the board of directors shall review 19
212212 the information submitted to them under this subdivision (c)(12) and shall 20
213213 make a decision on the appeal within thirty (30) days of receiving the 21
214214 information. 22
215215 (ii) The decision of a board of directors under 23
216216 subdivision (c)(12)(C)(i) of this section is final; and 24
217217 (13) A meeting held regarding a challenge or an appeal submitted 25
218218 under a written policy adopted by a school district under subsection (b) of 26
219219 this section shall be a public meeting and the records submitted and 27
220220 considered at a meeting shall be public records under the Freedom of 28
221221 Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq. 29
222222 30
223223 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 13 -2-106 is repealed. 31
224224 13-2-106. Establishment of guidelines for selection, relocation, and 32
225225 retention of materials — Definitions. 33
226226 (a) Each county or municipal library shall have a written policy to 34
227227 establish guidelines for the selection, relocation, and retention of physical 35
228228 materials that are available to the public. 36 HB1028
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231231 (b) A county or municipal library shall have a written policy for 1
232232 addressing challenged material that is physically present in the library and 2
233233 available to the public and meets the requirements stated in subsection (c) 3
234234 of this section. 4
235235 (c) A written policy adopted by a county or municipal library under 5
236236 subsection (b) of this section shall provide, at a minimum, the following: 6
237237 (1) A person affected by the material to be challenged or an 7
238238 employee of the county or municipal library may challenge the appropriateness 8
239239 of material available in the county or municipal library; 9
240240 (2) The county or municipal library shall decide if material 10
241241 being challenged shall remain available throughout the challenge process; 11
242242 (3) Before a person can file a challenge, the person shall 12
243243 request a meeting with the librarian of the county or municipal library; 13
244244 (4) Before a meeting under subdivision (c)(3) of this section 14
245245 occurs, the county or municipal library shall provide a copy of the following 15
246246 to a person who requests a meeting under subdivision (c)(3) of this section: 16
247247 (A) The written policy adopted by the county or municipal 17
248248 library under subsection (b) of this section; and 18
249249 (B) A form or other method by which a person may request a 19
250250 reconsideration of the appropriateness of the material being challenged; 20
251251 (5) After the meeting requested under subdivision (c)(3) of this 21
252252 section occurs, if the person who requested the meeting wants to formally 22
253253 challenge the appropriateness of the material that was the subject of the 23
254254 meeting, the person shall complete and submit the request for reconsideration 24
255255 using the form or other method provided under subdivision (c)(4)(B) of this 25
256256 section to challenge the material that was the subject of the meeting; 26
257257 (6)(A) In conducting a review of material being challenged, the 27
258258 librarian of the county or municipal library shall select a committee of 28
259259 library personnel. 29
260260 (B) The librarian or his or her designee shall be a member 30
261261 of the committee and may serve as the chair of the committee established 31
262262 under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section. 32
263263 (C) The committee members who are not the librarian shall 33
264264 have knowledge appropriate for the material being challenged and be 34
265265 representative of diverse viewpoints; 35
266266 (7)(A) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 36 HB1028
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269269 this section shall determine if the material being challenged meets the 1
270270 criteria of selection. 2
271271 (B) Material being challenged: 3
272272 (i) Shall not be withdrawn solely for the viewpoints 4
273273 expressed within the material; and 5
274274 (ii) Shall be reviewed in its entirety and shall not 6
275275 have selected portions taken out of context; 7
276276 (8) The county or municipal library shall convene a meeting of 8
277277 the committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section after 9
278278 allowing a reasonable time for the committee members to adequately review the 10
279279 material being challenged and the request submitted under subdivision (c)(5) 11
280280 of this section by the person challenging the appropriateness of the 12
281281 material; 13
282282 (9) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 14
283283 this section shall allow the person who submitted the request under 15
284284 subdivision (c)(5) of this section to present his or her request to the 16
285285 committee; 17
286286 (10) After hearing from the person who submitted the request 18
287287 under subdivision (c)(5) of this section, the committee established under 19
288288 subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section shall meet to discuss the material 20
289289 being challenged; 21
290290 (11)(A) The committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) of 22
291291 this section shall vote to determine whether the material being challenged 23
292292 shall be relocated within the library's collection to an area that is not 24
293293 accessible to minors under eighteen (18) years of age. 25
294294 (B) A member of the committee established under 26
295295 subdivision (c)(6)(A) of this section who votes with the majority under 27
296296 subdivision (c)(11)(A) of this section shall write a summary of the reasons 28
297297 for the majority's decision. 29
298298 (C) Notice of the committee's decision under subdivision 30
299299 (c)(11)(A) of this section and the summary prepared under subdivision 31
300300 (c)(11)(B) of this section shall be given by hand or by certified mail to the 32
301301 person who submitted the request under subdivision (c)(5) of this section; 33
302302 (12)(A) If the committee established under subdivision (c)(6)(A) 34
303303 of this section decides not to relocate the material being challenged, the 35
304304 person who submitted the request under subdivision (c)(5) of this section may 36 HB1028
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307307 appeal the committee's decision to the governing body of the county or city 1
308308 by filing a written appeal to the executive head of the governing body of the 2
309309 county or city within five (5) working days of the committee's decision or 3
310310 written receipt of the committee's decision. 4
311311 (B)(i) If a person appeals the decision of a committee 5
312312 under this subdivision (c)(12), the executive head of the county or city 6
313313 shall present the material being challenged, the request submitted by the 7
314314 person under subdivision (c)(5) of this section, the committee's decision 8
315315 under subdivision (c)(11)(A) of this section, and the summary prepared under 9
316316 subdivision (c)(11)(B) of this section to the governing body of the county or 10
317317 city within fifteen (15) days of the committee's decision. 11
318318 (ii) In addition to the information required to be 12
319319 provided under subdivision (c)(12)(B)(i) of this section, the executive head 13
320320 of the county or city may also include his or her recommendation regarding 14
321321 the appeal submitted under this subdivision (c)(12). 15
322322 (C)(i) The members of the governing body of the county or 16
323323 city shall review the information submitted to them under this subdivision 17
324324 (c)(12) and shall make a decision on the appeal within thirty (30) days of 18
325325 receiving the information. 19
326326 (ii) The decision of the governing body of the 20
327327 county or city under subdivision (c)(12)(C)(i) of this section is final; and 21
328328 (13) A meeting held regarding a challenge or an appeal submitted 22
329329 under a written policy adopted by a county or city library under subsection 23
330330 (b) of this section shall be a public meeting and the records submitted and 24
331331 considered at a meeting shall be public records under the Freedom of 25
332332 Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq. 26
333333 (d) As used in this section: 27
334334 (1) “Executive head of the county or city” means: 28
335335 (A) For a county library, the executive head of the 29
336336 county; 30
337337 (B) For a city library, the executive head of the city; 31
338338 and 32
339339 (C) For a library that is funded by both a county and a 33
340340 city, the executive head of the county or city that provides the majority of 34
341341 the funding for the library; and 35
342342 (2) “Governing body of the county or city” means: 36 HB1028
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345345 (A) For a county library, the county; 1
346346 (B) For a city library, the city; and 2
347347 (C) For a library that is funded by both a county and a 3
348348 city, the county or city that provides the majority of the funding for the 4
349349 library. 5
350350 6
351351 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code Title 13, Chapter 2, Subchapter 2, is amended 7
352352 to add an additional section to read as follows: 8
353353 13-2-215. Administration of state programs of aid. 9
354354 In determining a public library's eligibility to receive funding from 10
355355 state programs of aid, the Arkansas State Library shall provide state funding 11
356356 to a library only if the public library has a written policy prohibiting the 12
357357 practice of banning books or other materials because of partisan or doctrinal 13
358358 disapproval. 14
359359 15
360360 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code § 13 -2-704(b), concerning the disclosure of 16
361361 information permitted by a library, is repealed. 17
362362 (b) A library may disclose confidential library records to: 18
363363 (1) The patron; and 19
364364 (2) The parent or legal guardian of a patron who is younger than 20
365365 eighteen (18) years of age. 21
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