Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1919 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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3	3	State of Arkansas 1
4	4	95th General Assembly A Bill 2
5	5	Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1919 3
6	6	4
7	7	By: Representative McAlindon 5
8	8	By: Senator J. Dotson 6
9	9	7
10	10	For An Act To Be Entitled 8
11	11	AN ACT TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND 9
12	12	TRANSPARENCY ACT; TO REQUIRE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS TO 10
13	13	LEARNING MATERIALS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
14	14	12
15	15	13
16	16	Subtitle 14
17	17	TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND 15
18	18	TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC 16
19	19	ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS. 17
20	20	18
21	21	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
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23	23	SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Title. 21
24	24	This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Public School Access 22
25	25	and Transparency Act". 23
26	26	24
27	27	SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative intent. 25
28	28	The purpose of this act is to amend the Freedom of Information Act of 26
29	29	1967, § 25-19-101 et seq., to: 27
30	30	(1) Prevent the abuse of copyright claims by public records 28
31	31	custodians; and 29
32	32	(2) Guarantee access to school learning materials, thus ensuring 30
33	33	transparency and accountability in public education in the state. 31
34	34	32
35	35	SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-103(7), concerning the definition of 33
36	36	"public records" under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is amended to 34
37	37	read as follows: 35
38	38	(7)(A) “Public records” means writings, recorded sounds, films, 36 HB1919
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41	41	tapes, electronic or computer -based information, or data compilations in any 1
42	42	medium required by law to be kept or otherwise kept and that constitute a 2
43	43	record of the performance or lack of performance of official functions that 3
44	44	are or should be carried out by a public official or employee, a governmental 4
45	45	agency, or any other agency or improvement district that is wholly or 5
46	46	partially supported by public funds or expending public funds. All records 6
47	47	maintained in public offices or by public employees within the scope of their 7
48	48	employment shall be presumed to be public records , including without 8
49	49	limitation learning materials used in or maintained by a public school or 9
50	50	public school district . 10
51	51	(B) “Public records” does not mean software acquired by 11
52	52	purchase, lease, or license; 12
53	53	13
54	54	SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-103, concerning definitions under the 14
55	55	Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is amended to add an additional 15
56	56	subdivision to read as follows: 16
57	57	(10)(A) "Learning materials" means curricula, syllabi, lesson 17
58	58	plans, instructional materials, assignments, presentations, books, articles, 18
59	59	video recordings, audio recordings, digital resources, or other resources 19
60	60	that are used for classroom instruction, regardless of format or medium. 20
61	61	(B) "Learning materials" does not include tests or other 21
62	62	student assessments used by public schools or public school districts. 22
63	63	23
64	64	SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-105, concerning the examination and 24
65	65	copying of public records under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is 25
66	66	amended to add an additional subsection to read as follows: 26
67	67	(i)(1) Access to learning materials shall not be denied to any 27
68	68	resident on the grounds that disclosure, inspection, or copying of the 28
69	69	learning materials would constitute an infringement of copyright under 29
70	70	federal law. 30
71	71	(2) A custodian of learning materials, including without 31
72	72	limitation a public school, public school district, public school official, 32
73	73	or public school employee, shall not enter into an agreement or contract that 33
74	74	purports to restrict public access to learning materials based on copyright, 34
75	75	intellectual property rights, or any similar legal theory. 35
76	76	(3)(A) Consistent with subsection (g) of this section, access 36 HB1919
77	77
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79	79	shall not be denied to digital learning materials, including without 1
80	80	limitation subscription -based services or other programs that can be accessed 2
81	81	with personal electronic devices. 3
82	82	(B) To the extent that copying digital learning materials 4
83	83	under subdivision (i)(3)(A) of this section is impractical, a resident 5
84	84	requesting to copy the digital learning materials shall be provided the 6
85	85	opportunity to physically inspect the digital learning materials during 7
86	86	normal business hours. 8
87	87	(4)(A) Access to learning materials, including without 9
88	88	limitation the physical inspection of digital learning materials, shall not 10
89	89	be conditioned upon a resident seeking access to the learning materials being 11
90	90	required to enter into any form of nondisclosure agreement or waiver of 12
91	91	rights under this chapter. 13
92	92	(B) For purposes of this section, "nondisclosure 14
93	93	agreement" means a confidentiality agreement or contract provision that 15
94	94	prohibits the disclosure of information by a party to the contract to a 16
95	95	third-party. 17
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97	97	SECTION 6. DO NOT CODIFY. Severability. If any provision of this act 19
98	98	or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 20
99	99	invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this act that 21
100	100	can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this 22
101	101	end, the provisions of this act are severable. 23
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