Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1951 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.
2	2	LJH019 04/01/2025 8:10:08 AM LJH019
3	3	State of Arkansas 1
4	4	95th General Assembly A Bill 2
5	5	Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1951 3
6	6	4
7	7	By: Representative A. Collins 5
8	8	By: Senator J. Bryant 6
9	9	7
10	10	For An Act To Be Entitled 8
11	11	AN ACT TO SET FORTH AUTHORIZED DOMAIN EXTENSIONS FOR 9
12	12	HIGHER EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT WEBSITES; AND FOR 10
13	13	OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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15	15	13
16	16	Subtitle 14
17	17	TO SET FORTH AUTHORIZED DOMAIN 15
18	18	EXTENSIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND 16
19	19	GOVERNMENT WEBSITES. 17
20	20	18
21	21	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
22	22	20
23	23	SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings. 21
24	24	The General Assembly finds that: 22
25	25	(1) Certain domain extensions are restricted to government entities in 23
26	26	the United States; 24
27	27	(2) When users see a website with a ".gov", a ".mil", or a ".edu" 25
28	28	extension, they can be confident that it is an official government website; 26
29	29	(3) Using a government extension provides an additional layer of 27
30	30	security, as it requires stringent verification processes to obtain, reducing 28
31	31	the likelihood of phishing scams and other fraudulent activities; 29
32	32	(4) A government extension signifies that the website is an official 30
33	33	source of government information or services, helping to ensure that members 31
34	34	of the public have access to accurate and reliable information from trusted 32
35	35	sources; and 33
36	36	(5) Using a government extension reinforces government accountability 34
37	37	and transparency, as it clearly identifies official government entities and 35
38	38	their online presence. 36 HB1951
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41	41	1
42	42	SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, is amended 2
43	43	to add an additional section to read as follows: 3
44	44	6-1-109. Public institutionally accredited postsecondary or higher 4
45	45	education institution websites — Use of authorized domain extension — 5
46	46	Definition. 6
47	47	(a) As used in this section, "public institutionally accredited 7
48	48	postsecondary or higher education institution" means a public postsecondary 8
49	49	or higher education institution that holds an institutional accreditation by 9
50	50	an agency on the United States Department of Education's list of 10
51	51	Institutional Accrediting Agencies as it existed on January 1, 2025. 11
52	52	(b) A public institutionally accredited postsecondary or higher 12
53	53	education institution shall use a ".edu" top level domain for: 13
54	54	(1) The website address for the website, if any, of the public 14
55	55	institutionally accredited postsecondary or higher education institution; and 15
56	56	(2) Any email addresses made available by the public 16
57	57	institutionally accredited postsecondary or higher education institution for 17
58	58	use by the: 18
59	59	(A) Public institutionally accredited postsecondary or 19
60	60	higher education institution; and 20
61	61	(B) Employees of the public institutionally accredited 21
62	62	postsecondary or higher education institution. 22
63	63	(c) A public institutionally accredited postsecondary or higher 23
64	64	education institution may operate a website that uses a sponsored top -level 24
65	65	domain that is not a ".edu" domain if: 25
66	66	(1) A reasonable person would not mistake the website as the 26
67	67	primary website of the public institutionally accredited postsecondary or 27
68	68	higher education institution; and 28
69	69	(2) The website of the public institutionally accredited 29
70	70	postsecondary or higher education institution is: 30
71	71	(A) Solely for internal use and not intended for use by 31
72	72	members of the public; 32
73	73	(B) Temporary and in use by the public institutionally 33
74	74	accredited postsecondary or higher education institution for a period of no 34
75	75	more than one (1) calendar year; or 35
76	76	(C) Related to an event, program, or informational 36 HB1951
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79	79	campaign operated by the public institutionally accredited postsecondary or 1
80	80	higher education institution in partnership with another person or entity 2
81	81	that is not a governmental entity. 3
82	82	(d) The State Board of Higher Education may authorize a waiver of the 4
83	83	requirements of subsection (b) of this section if: 5
84	84	(1) There are extraordinary circumstances under which use of an 6
85	85	".edu" top level domain extension would cause demonstrable harm to members of 7
86	86	the public or businesses; and 8
87	87	(2) A representative of the public institutionally accredited 9
88	88	postsecondary or higher education institution submits a written request to 10
89	89	the board that includes a justification for the waiver. 11
90	90	12
91	91	SECTION 3. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, is amended 13
92	92	to add an additional section to read as follows: 14
93	93	14-1-112. Municipal government — Use of authorized domain extension. 15
94	94	(a) A municipal government shall use a ".gov" sponsored top -level 16
95	95	domain for: 17
96	96	(1) The website address for the website, if any, of the 18
97	97	municipal government; and 19
98	98	(2) Any email addresses made available by the municipal 20
99	99	government for use by the: 21
100	100	(A) Municipal government; and 22
101	101	(B) Employees of the municipal government. 23
102	102	(b) A municipal government may operate a website that uses a sponsored 24
103	103	top-level domain that is not a ".gov" domain if: 25
104	104	(1) A reasonable person would not mistake the website as the 26
105	105	primary website of the municipal government; and 27
106	106	(2) The website of the municipal government is: 28
107	107	(A) Solely for internal use and not intended for use by 29
108	108	members of the public; 30
109	109	(B) Temporary and in use by the municipal government for a 31
110	110	period of no more than one (1) year; or 32
111	111	(C) Related to an event, program, or informational 33
112	112	campaign operated by the municipal government in partnership with another 34
113	113	person or entity that is not a governmental entity. 35
114	114	(c) The Legislative Council may authorize a waiver of the requirements 36 HB1951
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117	117	of subsection (a) of this section if: 1
118	118	(1) There are extraordinary circumstances under which use of a 2
119	119	".gov" sponsored top -level domain extension would cause demonstrable harm to 3
120	120	citizens or businesses; and 4
121	121	(2) A representative of the municipal government submits a 5
122	122	written request to the Legislative Council that includes a justification for 6
123	123	the waiver. 7
124	124	8
125	125	SECTION 4. Arkansas Code Title 25, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, is amended 9
126	126	to add an additional section to read as follows: 10
127	127	25-1-131. State agencies, boards, or commissions — Use of authorized 11
128	128	domain extension — Definition. 12
129	129	(a) As used in this section, "state agency, board, or commission" 13
130	130	means a state agency, board, or commission established by law, except for a 14
131	131	board or commission that primarily serves a public institutionally accredited 15
132	132	postsecondary or higher education institution and that makes available to 16
133	133	members email addresses with a ".edu" top -level domain. 17
134	134	(b) A state agency, board, or commission shall use a ".gov" or a 18
135	135	".mil" sponsored top -level domain for: 19
136	136	(1) The website address for the website, if any, of the state 20
137	137	agency, board, or commission; and 21
138	138	(2) Any email addresses made available by the state agency, 22
139	139	board, or commission for use by the: 23
140	140	(A) State agency, board, or commission; and 24
141	141	(B) Employees of the state agency, board, or commission. 25
142	142	(c) A state agency, board, or commission may operate a website that 26
143	143	uses a sponsored top -level domain that is not a ".gov" or a ".mil" domain if: 27
144	144	(1) A reasonable person would not mistake the website as the 28
145	145	primary website of the state agency, board, or commission; and 29
146	146	(2) The website of the state agency, board, or commission is: 30
147	147	(A) Solely for internal use and not intended for use by 31
148	148	members of the public; 32
149	149	(B) Temporary and in use by the state agency, board, or 33
150	150	commission for a period of no more than one (1) year; or 34
151	151	(C) Related to an event, program, or informational 35
152	152	campaign operated by the state agency, board, or commission in partnership 36 HB1951
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155	155	with another person or entity that is not a governmental entity. 1
156	156	(d) The Legislative Council may authorize a waiver of the requirements 2
157	157	of subsection (b) of this section if: 3
158	158	(1) There are extraordinary circumstances under which use of a 4
159	159	".gov" or a ".mil" top -level domain extension would cause demonstrable harm 5
160	160	to citizens or businesses; and 6
161	161	(2) The secretary, chair, or other principal of the state 7
162	162	agency, board, or commission submits a written request to the Legislative 8
163	163	Council that includes a justification for the waiver. 9
164	164	10
165	165	SECTION 5. DO NOT CODIFY. Effective date. 11
166	166	This act is effective on and after June 1, 2026, except as to cities 12
167	167	and towns that have a population of fewer than ten thousand (10,000) 13
168	168	inhabitants, which will be required to comply with this act on and after 14
169	169	January 1, 2027. 15
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