Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 524 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1707 3
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By: Representatives Hawk, Underwood 5
By: Senator K. Hammer 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING CAMPAIGN 9
CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES; TO REQUIRE A 10
CANDIDATE FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT, TOWNSHIP, OR MUNICIPAL 11
OFFICE TO FILE REPORTS WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE; 12
TO REQUIRE A CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY OFFICE TO FILE 13
REPORTS WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO AMEND 14
PORTIONS OF INITIATED ACT 1 OF 1996; TO DECLARE AN 15
EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 16
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Subtitle 19
TO REQUIRE CERTAIN CANDIDATES TO FILE 20
REPORTS WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO 21
AMEND PORTIONS OF INITIATED ACT 1 OF 22
1996; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. 23
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 25
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-208(c), concerning filing of reports of 27
contributions for candidates for school district, township, or municipal 28
office and resulting from Initiated Act 1 of 1996, is amended to read as 29
follows: 30
(c) Filing of Reports. 31
(1)(A) The reports required by this section shall be filed with 32
the county clerk in the county in which the election is held Secretary of 33
State under subdivision (c)(2) of this section . 34
(B) Reports shall be filed on the appropriate forms 35
furnished by the Secretary of State. 36 HB1707
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(2)(A)(i) The Secretary of State shall establish a filing system 1
for reports filed under this section. 2
(ii) The reports shall be kept for eight (8) years 3
from the date of filing, catalogued by candidate in chronological order, and 4
made available for public inspection. 5
(iii) For eight (8) years after the reports are 6
filed under this section, the Secretary of State is the official custodian of 7
those records. 8
(B)(i) After the eight -year period, the Secretary of State 9
shall turn the reports over to the Arkansas State Archives for maintenance 10
and continued public inspection. 11
(ii) After the eight -year period, the Arkansas State 12
Archives is the official custodian of the records of the reports filed under 13
this section. 14
(C)(i) The campaign contribution and expenditure reports 15
filed with the Secretary of State under this section shall be filed in 16
electronic form through the official website of the Secretary of State. 17
(ii) The Arkansas Ethics Commission shall approve 18
the format used by the Secretary of State for the filing of campaign 19
contribution and expenditure reports in electronic form under subdivision 20
(c)(2)(C)(i) of this section to ensure that all required information is 21
requested. 22
(iii) The official website of the Secretary of State 23
shall allow for searches of campaign contribution and expenditure report 24
information filed in electronic form under subdivision (c)(2)(C)(i) of this 25
section. 26
(iv) The electronic format used for the filing of 27
campaign contribution and expenditure reports on the official website of the 28
Secretary of State shall aggregate total campaign contributions by a 29
contributor to determine if they collectively reach the limitation for lawful 30
campaign contributions under this subchapter. 31
(v) The Secretary of State shall not accept paper 32
filings under this subdivision (c)(2). 33
(3) The Secretary of State shall furnish to the commission, no 34
later than thirty (30) days after each filing deadline under this section, a 35
report listing the: 36 HB1707
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(A) Names of all candidates who have filed for office; 1
(B) Type of report filed by each candidate; and 2
(C) Date the report was received by the Secretary of 3
State. 4
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-209(c), concerning filing of reports of 6
contributions for candidates for county office and resulting from Initiated 7
Act 1 of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 8
(c) Filing of Reports. 9
(1)(A) The reports required by this section shall be filed with 10
the county clerk in the county in which the election is held Secretary of 11
State under subdivision (c)(2) of this section . 12
(B) Reports shall be filed on the appropriate forms 13
furnished by the Secretary of State. 14
(2)(A)(i) The Secretary of State shall establish a filing system 15
for reports filed under this section. 16
(ii) The reports shall be kept for eight (8) years 17
from the date of filing, catalogued by candidate in chronological order, and 18
made available for public inspection. 19
(iii) For eight (8) years after the reports are 20
filed under this section, the Secretary of State is the official custodian of 21
those records. 22
(B)(i) After the eight -year period, the Secretary of State 23
shall turn the reports over to the Arkansas State Archives for maintenance 24
and continued public inspection. 25
(ii) After the eight -year period, the Arkansas State 26
Archives is the official custodian of the records of the reports filed under 27
this section. 28
(C)(i) The campaign contribution and expenditure reports 29
filed with the Secretary of State under this section shall be filed in 30
electronic form through the official website of the Secretary of State. 31
(ii) The Arkansas Ethics Commission shall approve 32
the format used by the Secretary of State for the filing of campaign 33
contribution and expenditure reports in electronic form under subdivision 34
(c)(2)(C)(i) of this section to ensure that all required information is 35
requested. 36 HB1707
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(iii) The official website of the Secretary of State 1
shall allow for searches of campaign contribution and expenditure report 2
information filed in electronic form under subdivision (c)(2)(C)(i) of this 3
section. 4
(iv) The electronic format used for the filing of 5
campaign contribution and expenditure reports on the official website of the 6
Secretary of State shall aggregate total campaign contributions by a 7
contributor to determine if they collectively reach the limitation for lawful 8
campaign contributions under this subchapter. 9
(v) The Secretary of State shall not accept paper 10
filings under this subdivision (c)(2). 11
(3) The Secretary of State shall furnish to the commission, no 12
later than thirty (30) days after each filing deadline under this section, a 13
report listing the: 14
(A) Names of all candidates who have filed for office; 15
(B) Type of report filed by each candidate; and 16
(C) Date the report was received by the Secretary of 17
State. 18
19
SECTION 3. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. It is found and determined by the 20
General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that transparency in election 21
contributions impacts the public peace, health, and safety as it ensures that 22
elections are conducted fairly and properly; that this act increases access 23
to reports of contributions for candidates for school district, township, 24
municipal, and county offices; and that this act should become effective at 25
the earliest opportunity to preserve the public peace, health, and safety by 26
providing increased transparency in election contributions to ensure that 27
elections occur in a fair and appropriate manner. Therefore, an emergency is 28
declared to exist, and this act being immediately necessary for the 29
preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall become effective 30
on: 31
(1) The date of its approval by the Governor; 32
(2) If the bill is neither approved nor vetoed by the Governor, 33
the expiration of the period of time during which the Governor may veto the 34
bill; or 35
(3) If the bill is vetoed by the Governor and the veto is 36 HB1707
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overridden, the date the last house overrides the veto. 1
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APPROVED: 4/10/25 4
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