Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 162 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1407 3
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By: Representative Dalby 5
By: Senator A. Clark 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE 9
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE FUND; AND FOR OTHER 10
PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE STATE 15
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE FUND. 16
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 18
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SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings and intent. 20
(a) The General Assembly finds that: 21
(1) Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 80, vested the judicial 22
power of the State of Arkansas in the judicial department; 23
(2) Over the past twenty -five (25) years, the state has 24
transitioned from hundreds of part -time local municipal court, city court, 25
and district court judges to seventy (70) full -time state district court 26
judges resulting from a consolidation of these courts into a unified state 27
system of district courts; 28
(3) The Supreme Court in In re Amendment 80, 2025 Ark. 5, 29
directed the Administrative Office of the Courts to: 30
(A) Assist the district judges in forming the Arkansas 31
District Judges Judicial Council similar to that of the circuit court; and 32
(B) Support the new judicial council for district judges 33
as it has supported the Arkansas Judicial Council for decades. 34
(4) Distributions from the State Administration of Justice Fund 35
are currently made to the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc., for the 36 HB1407
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Executive Director of the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc.; and 1
(5) It is no longer necessary for the state to support the 2
Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc., in this manner. 3
(b) The General Assembly intends this act to ensure the efficient use 4
of the State Administration of Justice Fund. 5
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 16 -10-310(b), concerning the distribution 7
of revenue credited to the State Administration of Justice Fund, is amended 8
to read as follows: 9
(b) The revenue described in subsection (a) of this section shall be 10
distributed to the following state programs and state agencies in monthly 11
installments of at least one -twelfth (1/12) of the annual allocation provided 12
for each state program or state agency from the State Administration of 13
Justice Fund subject to the limitations stated in this section: 14
(1) The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas for the 15
purpose of and as regulated by §§ 6 -64-604 — 6-64-606; 16
(2) The Public Health Fund and the Drug Abuse Prevention and 17
Treatment Fund for use in the drug abuse prevention and treatment program of 18
the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the 19
Department of Human Services; 20
(3) The Division of Arkansas State Police for the State Police 21
Retirement Fund; 22
(4) The Crime Victims Reparations Revolving Fund for the purpose 23
of and as regulated by the Arkansas Crime Victims Reparations Act, § 16 -90-24
701 et seq.; 25
(5) The Prosecutor Coordinator's office for deposit into the Law 26
Enforcement and Prosecutor Drug Enforcement Training Fund; 27
(6) The Crime Information System Fund; 28
(7) The Justice Building Construction Fund; 29
(8) The District Court Judge and District Court Clerk Education 30
Fund; 31
(9) The Judges Retirement Fund; 32
(10) The State Central Services Fund for the benefit of the 33
Arkansas Public Defender Commission; 34
(11) The Court Reporter's Fund; 35
(12) The Justice Building Fund; 36 HB1407
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(13) The Arkansas Counties Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Crime 1
Prevention Program Fund; 2
(14) The Administrative Office of the Courts to fund the Trial 3
Court Administrator Fund; 4
(15) The Division of Arkansas State Police Fund; 5
(16) The State Central Services Fund for the benefit of the 6
Division of Dependency -Neglect Representation of the Administrative Office of 7
the Courts; 8
(17) The Miscellaneous Agencies Fund Account for the benefit of 9
the State Crime Laboratory; 10
(18) The Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc., for the 11
Executive Director of the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc.; 12
(19)(18) The Public Legal Aid Fund; 13
(20)(19) The Administrative Office of the Courts for county 14
reimbursements for jurors; and 15
(21)(20) The Administrative Office of the Courts to reimburse 16
the State Central Services Fund for the Drug Court Coordinator. 17
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 16 -10-310(c)(1)(A), concerning the priority 19
of allocations if the State Administration of Justice Fund balance is 20
inadequate to fully fund all authorized monthly allocations, is amended to 21
read as follows: 22
(1)(A) The available revenue and remaining State Administration 23
of Justice Fund balance shall be distributed first to fully fund the monthly 24
allocation for: 25
(i) The Court Reporter's Fund; 26
(ii) The Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc., for 27
the Executive Director of the Arkansas District Judges Council, Inc.; and 28
(iii)(ii) The Administrative Office of the Courts to 29
fund the Trial Court Administrator Fund. 30
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APPROVED: 2/25/25 33
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