Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 506 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H4/2/25 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1077 3
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By: Representatives Hudson, Painter, Ennett, Richmond, Nazarenko, Tosh 5
By: Senator C. Tucker 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT CONCERNING THE INCARCERATION OF A VETERAN OF 9
THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES; TO PROVIDE FOR 10
NOTIFICATION TO THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 11
AFFAIRS OF THE INCARCERATION OF A VETERAN; AND FOR 12
OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
CONCERNING THE INCARCERATION OF A 17
VETERAN OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED 18
FORCES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR NOTIFICATION 19
TO THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 20
AFFAIRS OF THE INCARCERATION OF A 21
VETERAN. 22
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 12, Chapter 29, Subchapter 1 is amended 26
to add an additional section to read as follows: 27
12-29-121. Required survey and notification for incarceration of 28
veteran. 29
(a)(1) Within fourteen (14) days of the initial incarceration of a 30
person, the administrator of the correctional facility with custody of the 31
person, the designee of the administrator of the correctional facility with 32
custody of the person, or the county veteran service officer of the county in 33
which the person is in custody shall verify the veteran status of the person 34
by using data made available from the Veterans Reentry Search Service 35
operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or a similar 36 As Engrossed: H4/2/25 HB1077
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service. 1
(2) If the administrator of the correctional facility with 2
custody of the person designates the county veteran service officer to verify 3
the veteran status of the person under subdivision (a)(1) of this section, 4
the administrator shall provide the information necessary for the county 5
veteran service officer to conduct the verification. 6
(b) The administrator of a correctional facility with custody of a 7
person identified as a veteran, the designee of the administrator of the 8
correctional facility with custody of the person identified as a veteran, or 9
the county veteran service officer of the county in which the person 10
identified as a veteran is in custody shall by mail, email, or fax send 11
written notice of the person's incarceration to the Department of Veterans 12
Affairs within forty -five (45) days of the person's initial incarceration if: 13
(1) The person is still in custody; and 14
(2) The person's sentence of incarceration is six (6) months or 15
more or the administrator of the correctional facility or his or her designee 16
reasonably believes that the person will remain in custody for six (6) months 17
or more. 18
(c) Upon the release from custody of a person identified as a veteran 19
who has been incarcerated for at least six (6) months, the administrator of 20
the correctional facility from which the person was released, the designee of 21
the administrator of the correctional facility from which the person was 22
released, or the county veteran service officer of the county in which the 23
person was in custody shall by mail, email, or fax send written notice of the 24
person's release from custody to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 25
(d) The administrator of a correctional facility shall provide 26
reasonable access to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the 27
Department of Veterans Affairs to assist an inmate who is a veteran in 28
applying for: 29
(1) Federal or state benefits, compensation, or treatment for 30
which the inmate may be eligible; or 31
(2) Treatment through a veterans treatment specialty court 32
program under § 16-101-101 et seq. or another specialty court program 33
authorized by the Supreme Court under § 16 -10-139. 34
(e) The administrator of a correctional facility shall make available 35
upon request the results of his or her verification under subdivision (a)(1) 36 As Engrossed: H4/2/25 HB1077
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of this section to a prosecuting attorney, a managing public defender, a 1
coordinator of a specialty court program authorized by the Supreme Court 2
under § 16-10-139, or the Administrative Office of the Courts. 3
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 12, Chapter 41, Subchapter 1 is amended 5
to add an additional section to read as follows: 6
12-41-111. Required survey and notification for incarceration of 7
veteran. 8
(a)(1) Within fourteen (14) days of the initial incarceration of a 9
person, the administrator of the local correctional facility with custody of 10
the person, the designee of the administrator of the local correctional 11
facility with custody of the person, or the county veteran service officer of 12
the county in which the person is in custody shall verify the veteran status 13
of the person by using data made available from the Veterans Reentry Search 14
Service operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or a 15
similar service. 16
(2) If the administrator of the local correctional facility with 17
custody of the person designates the county veteran service officer to verify 18
the veteran status of the person under subdivision (a)(1) of this section, 19
the administrator shall provide the information necessary for the county 20
veteran service officer to conduct the verification. 21
(b) The administrator of a local correctional facility with custody of 22
a person identified as a veteran, the designee of the administrator of the 23
local correctional facility with custody of the person identified as a 24
veteran, or the county veteran service officer of the county in which the 25
person identified as a veteran is in custody shall by mail, email, or fax 26
send written notice of the person's incarceration to the Department of 27
Veterans Affairs within forty -five (45) days of the person's initial 28
incarceration if: 29
(1) The person is still in custody; and 30
(2) The person's sentence of incarceration is six (6) months or 31
more or the administrator of the local correctional facility or his or her 32
designee reasonably believes that the person will remain in custody for six 33
(6) months or more. 34
(c) Upon the release from custody of a person identified as a veteran 35
who has been incarcerated for at least six (6) months, the administrator of 36 As Engrossed: H4/2/25 HB1077
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the local correctional facility from which the person was released, the 1
designee of the administrator of the local correctional facility from which 2
the person was released, or the county veteran service officer of the county 3
in which the person was in custody shall by mail, email, or fax send written 4
notice of the person's release from custody to the Department of Veterans 5
Affairs. 6
(d) The administrator of a local correctional facility shall provide 7
reasonable access to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the 8
Department of Veterans Affairs to assist an inmate who is a veteran in 9
applying for: 10
(1) Federal or state benefits, compensation, or treatment for 11
which the inmate may be eligible; or 12
(2) Treatment through a veterans treatment specialty court 13
program under § 16-101-101 et seq. or other specialty court program 14
authorized by the Supreme Court under § 16 -10-139. 15
(e) The administrator of a local correctional facility shall make 16
available upon request the results of his or her verification under 17
subdivision (a)(1) of this section to a prosecuting attorney, a managing 18
public defender, a coordinator of a specialty court program authorized by the 19
Supreme Court under § 16 -10-139, or the Administrative Office of the Courts. 20
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/s/Hudson 22
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APPROVED: 4/10/25 25
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