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Arkansas House Bill HJR1007

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HJR1007 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to the Arkansas
22 Constitution.
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44 State of Arkansas 1
55 95th General Assembly 2
66 Regular Session, 2025 HJR 1007 3
77 4
88 By: Representative Cavenaugh 5
99 6
1010 7
1111 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 8
1212 AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO CREATE A 9
1313 PROCEDURE FOR THE RECALL OF PERSONS ELECTED TO THE 10
1414 OFFICES OF GOVERNOR, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, ATTORNEY 11
1515 GENERAL, SECRETARY OF STATE, TREASURER OF STATE, 12
1616 AUDITOR OF STATE, COMMISSIONER OF STATE LANDS, MEMBER 13
1717 OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MEMBER OF THE 14
1818 SENATE, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE 15
1919 OF THE SUPREME COURT, CHIEF JUDGE OF THE COURT OF 16
2020 APPEALS, JUDGE OF THE COURT OF APPEALS, CIRCUIT 17
2121 JUDGE, DISTRICT JUDGE, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, COUNTY 18
2222 JUDGE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, SHERIFF, CIRCUIT CLERK, 19
2323 COUNTY CLERK, ASSESSOR, CORONER, TREASURER, COUNTY 20
2424 SURVEYOR, COLLECTOR OF TAXES, OR CONSTABLE. 21
2525 22
2626 23
2727 Subtitle 24
2828 A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO CREATE A 25
2929 PROCEDURE FOR THE RECALL OF CERTAIN 26
3030 ELECTED OFFICIALS. 27
3131 28
3232 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FIFTH GENERAL 29
3333 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, AND BY THE SENATE, A MAJORITY OF ALL 30
3434 MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE AGREEING THERETO: 31
3535 32
3636 THAT the following is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of 33
3737 the State of Arkansas, and upon being submitted to the electors of the state 34
3838 for approval or rejection at the next general election for Representatives 35
3939 and Senators, if a majority of the electors voting thereon at the election 36 HJR1007
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4242 adopt the amendment, the amendment shall become a part of the Constitution of 1
4343 the State of Arkansas, to wit: 2
4444 3
4545 SECTION 1. The Arkansas Constitution is amended to add an additional 4
4646 amendment to read as follows: 5
4747 § 1. Definitions. 6
4848 As used in this amendment: 7
4949 (1) "Elected official" means a person elected or appointed to 8
5050 one (1) of the following offices: 9
5151 (A) Governor; 10
5252 (B) Lieutenant Governor; 11
5353 (C) Attorney General; 12
5454 (D) Secretary of State; 13
5555 (E) Treasurer of State; 14
5656 (F) Auditor of State; 15
5757 (G) Commissioner of State Lands; 16
5858 (H) Member of the House of Representatives; 17
5959 (I) Member of the Senate; 18
6060 (J) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; 19
6161 (K) Justice of the Supreme Court; 20
6262 (L) Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals; 21
6363 (M) Judge of the Court of Appeals; 22
6464 (N) Circuit court judge; 23
6565 (O) District court judge; 24
6666 (P) Prosecuting attorney; 25
6767 (Q) County judge; 26
6868 (R) Justice of the peace; 27
6969 (S) Sheriff; 28
7070 (T) Circuit clerk; 29
7171 (U) County clerk; 30
7272 (V) Assessor; 31
7373 (W) Coroner; 32
7474 (X) Treasurer; 33
7575 (Y) County surveyor; 34
7676 (Z) Collector of taxes; or 35
7777 (AA) Constable. 36 HJR1007
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8080 (2) "Recall" means the voting by the electors of the state or a 1
8181 district, circuit, county, or township, as the case may be, to ascertain 2
8282 whether or not it is the desire of the majority of the electors to allow an 3
8383 elected official to remain in that office for the duration of his or her 4
8484 elected term; and 5
8585 (3) “Recall petition” means one (1) or more sheets of signatures 6
8686 of qualified electors demanding the recall of an elected official. 7
8787 8
8888 § 2. Petition. 9
8989 (a) The qualified electors of the state or a district, circuit, 10
9090 county, or township, as the case may be, may petition for the recall of an 11
9191 elected official by filing a recall petition demanding the recall of the 12
9292 elected official. 13
9393 (b)(1)(A) The recall petition for the recall of an elected official 14
9494 elected statewide shall be signed by qualified electors of the state in a 15
9595 number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) of the votes cast for Governor 16
9696 at the last general election at which a Governor was elected. 17
9797 (B) At least ten percent (10%) of the number of statewide 18
9898 signatures of qualified electors collected under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of 19
9999 this section shall be from at least fifty (50) different counties of the 20
100100 state. 21
101101 (2) The recall petition for an elected official elected by a 22
102102 district shall be signed by qualified electors of the district in which the 23
103103 elected official is serving in a number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) 24
104104 of the votes cast for Governor within the district at the last general 25
105105 election at which a Governor was elected. 26
106106 (3) The recall petition for an elected official elected by 27
107107 a circuit shall be signed by qualified electors of the circuit in which the 28
108108 elected official is serving in a number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) 29
109109 of the votes cast for Governor within the circuit at the last general 30
110110 election at which a Governor was elected. 31
111111 (4) The recall petition for an elected official elected by 32
112112 a county shall be signed by qualified electors of the county in which the 33
113113 elected official is serving in a number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) 34
114114 of the votes cast for Governor within the county at the last general election 35
115115 at which a Governor was elected. 36 HJR1007
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118118 (5) The recall petition for an elected official elected by 1
119119 a township shall be signed by qualified electors of the township in which the 2
120120 elected official is serving in a number of at least twenty -five percent (25%) 3
121121 of the votes cast for Governor within the township at the last general 4
122122 election at which a Governor was elected. 5
123123 (c) If an elected official's position requires performing the duties 6
124124 of more than one (1) office under § 1(1) of this amendment, a single recall 7
125125 petition is required which shall encompass all offices. 8
126126 9
127127 § 3. Recall of elected officials. 10
128128 (a)(1)(A) The recall of an elected official shall be initiated by 11
129129 filing a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition with the Secretary 12
130130 of State. 13
131131 (B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 14
132132 petition, the notice of intent shall be filed with the Attorney General. 15
133133 (2) No recall petition shall be circulated before the notice of 16
134134 intent is filed. 17
135135 (3) The notice of intent to circulate a recall petition shall 18
136136 state the reason the elected official should be recalled. 19
137137 (4) The filer of the notice of intent to circulate a recall 20
138138 petition shall within five (5) calendar days after filing the notice of 21
139139 intent notify the elected official who will be the subject of a recall 22
140140 petition by certified mail with return receipt requested. 23
141141 (b)(1) Each sheet of a recall petition shall contain signatures from 24
142142 only one (1) county. 25
143143 (2) The sheets of a recall petition shall be organized by county 26
144144 to facilitate voter identification. 27
145145 (c)(1) The recall petition shall be filed with the Secretary of State 28
146146 not less than sixty (60) calendar days nor more than eighty (80) calendar 29
147147 days after the filing of the notice of intent to circulate a recall petition. 30
148148 (2) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 31
149149 petition, the recall petition shall be filed with the Attorney General. 32
150150 (d)(1)(A) Within thirty (30) calendar days after the recall petition 33
151151 is filed, the Secretary of State shall determine whether the recall petition 34
152152 is sufficient and, if the recall petition is sufficient, shall state the 35
153153 sufficiency in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent. 36 HJR1007
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156156 (B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 1
157157 petition, the Attorney General shall determine whether the recall petition is 2
158158 sufficient and, if the recall petition is sufficient, shall state the 3
159159 sufficiency in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent. 4
160160 (2)(A) If the recall petition is found to be insufficient, the 5
161161 letter shall state the reasons creating the insufficiency. 6
162162 (B)(i) The recall petition may be amended to correct or 7
163163 amend an insufficiency within thirty (30) calendar days after the original 8
164164 determination of insufficiency. 9
165165 (ii) An amended or corrected recall petition shall 10
166166 be filed with the Secretary of State or, if the Secretary of State is the 11
167167 subject of the recall petition, the Attorney General. 12
168168 (C) For a statewide recall petition, correction or 13
169169 amendment of an insufficient recall petition shall be permitted only if: 14
170170 (i) The recall petition contains valid signatures of 15
171171 qualified electors equal to at least seventy -five percent (75%) of the number 16
172172 of statewide signatures of qualified electors required; and 17
173173 (ii) At least ten percent (10%) of the number of 18
174174 statewide signatures of qualified electors submitted on the recall petition 19
175175 are from at least fifty (50) counties of the state. 20
176176 (3)(A) Within fifteen (15) calendar days after the filing of an 21
177177 amended recall petition, the Secretary of State shall examine the recall 22
178178 petition again to determine sufficiency and shall state the sufficiency of 23
179179 the amended recall petition in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent 24
180180 to circulate a recall petition. 25
181181 (B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 26
182182 petition, then within fifteen (15) calendar days after the filing of an 27
183183 amended recall petition the Attorney General shall examine the recall 28
184184 petition again to determine sufficiency and shall state the sufficiency of 29
185185 the amended recall petition in a letter to the filer of the notice of intent 30
186186 to circulate a recall petition. 31
187187 (e)(1)(A) Immediately upon finding an original or amended recall 32
188188 petition sufficient, the Secretary of State shall notify the Governor who 33
189189 shall immediately call a special election for the purpose of submitting the 34
190190 recall proposal to the appropriate electors. 35
191191 (B) If the Secretary of State is the subject of the recall 36 HJR1007
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194194 petition, the Attorney General shall notify the Governor immediately upon 1
195195 finding an original or amended recall petition sufficient. 2
196196 (C) If the Governor is the subject of the recall petition, 3
197197 the Secretary of State shall notify the Lieutenant Governor, who shall 4
198198 immediately call a special election. 5
199199 (2)(A) The special election for the purpose of submitting the 6
200200 recall proposal to the appropriate electors shall be held within ninety (90) 7
201201 calendar days after the call for a special election. 8
202202 (B) However, if the next following general election is to 9
203203 be held within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days of the original or 10
204204 amended recall petition being found sufficient, the recall proposal shall be 11
205205 submitted at the next following general election. 12
206206 (f) If the Attorney General performs one (1) or more duties of the 13
207207 Secretary of State under this section due to the Secretary of State being the 14
208208 subject of the recall petition, the Attorney General may employ outside legal 15
209209 counsel to defend a legal challenge regarding the sufficiency of a recall 16
210210 petition. 17
211211 18
212212 § 4. Form of recall petition. 19
213213 (a) The recall petition regarding an elected official shall be in 20
214214 substantially the following form: 21
215215 "PETITION FOR RECALL 22
216216 To the Secretary of State [or the Attorney General, if the Secretary of State 23
217217 is the subject of the recall petition]: 24
218218 We, the undersigned qualified electors of 25
219219 ________________________________________ 26
220220 (Arkansas or District, Circuit, County, or Township) 27
221221 respectfully order that ____________________________________________________ 28
222222 (Name of Elected Official) 29
223223 be referred to the people of ___________________________________________ 30
224224 (Arkansas or District, Circuit, County, or Township) 31
225225 to the end that the recall of the elected official may be approved or 32
226226 rejected by the vote of the qualified electors at an election to be held for 33
227227 this purpose; and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally 34
228228 signed this petition; I am a qualified elector of (Arkansas or District, 35
229229 Circuit, County, or Township), and my printed name, date of birth, residence, 36 HJR1007
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232232 city or town of residence, and date of signing this petition are correctly 1
233233 written after my signature.” 2
234234 (b)(1) Each sheet of each recall petition containing the signatures 3
235235 shall be verified by the person who circulated the sheet of the recall 4
236236 petition by his or her affidavit attached to the recall petition. 5
237237 (2) The affidavit shall be in substantially the following form: 6
238238 "STATE OF ARKANSAS ) 7
239239 COUNTY_____________ ) 8
240240 I, ________________________, under oath, state that the above -listed persons 9
241241 signed this sheet, and each of them signed his or her name on this sheet in 10
242242 my presence. I believe that each has correctly stated his or her name, date 11
243243 of birth, residence, city or town of residence, and date of signing the 12
244244 petition. 13
245245 Signature ____________________________________________ 14
246246 Address ________________________________________________ 15
247247 Subscribed and sworn to before me this the ______day of ________, ____. 16
248248 Signature ____________________________________________________ 17
249249 Notary Public 18
250250 My Commission Expires: ____________________________________." 19
251251 (c) A petition shall be sufficient if it substantially follows the 20
252252 format of this section, disregarding clerical and technical errors. 21
253253 22
254254 § 5. Ballot. 23
255255 (a) At the election the recall proposal shall be printed on the ballot 24
256256 in substantially the following form: 25
257257 Name: Office: 26
258258 “For Permitting _______________________ ________________________to 27
259259 continue to serve the term of office for which elected ............ /_/ 28
260260 29
261261 Name: Office: 30
262262 Against Permitting ____________________ ______________________ to 31
263263 continue to serve the term of office for which elected ........... /_/.” 32
264264 (b)(1) If at the election a majority of the qualified electors voting 33
265265 on the recall proposal vote against permitting the elected official to 34
266266 continue to serve the term of office to which he or she was elected, an 35
267267 immediate vacancy shall exist in the office, and the vacancy shall be filled 36 HJR1007
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270270 in the manner prescribed by law. 1
271271 (2) If at the election a majority of the qualified electors 2
272272 voting on the recall proposal vote for permitting the elected official to 3
273273 continue to serve the term of office for which he or she elected, the elected 4
274274 official shall serve the full term for which he or she was elected. 5
275275 6
276276 § 6. Frequency of recall. 7
277277 After one (1) recall petition and election, no further recall petition 8
278278 shall be filed against the same elected official during the same term of 9
279279 office. 10
280280 11
281281 § 7. Recall expenses. 12
282282 All expenses of an election for the recall of an elected official shall 13
283283 be paid for in the same manner and from the same source as provided by 14
284284 applicable law for election expenses. 15
285285 16
286286 § 8. Ballot question. 17
287287 (a) A recall proposal shall be considered a ballot question for 18
288288 purposes of applicable laws on measures referred to voters. 19
289289 (b) An elected official, any person or entity acting on behalf of an 20
290290 elected official, or any other person or entity who receives contributions or 21
291291 makes expenditures for the purpose of attempting to influence the 22
292292 qualification, passage, or defeat of a recall petition or recall proposal 23
293293 shall be considered a ballot question committee and shall comply with 24
294294 applicable laws on measures referred to voters. 25
295295 26
296296 SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment shall be effective on and 27
297297 after January 1, 2027. 28
298298 29
299299 SECTION 3. BALLOT TITLE AND POPULAR NAME. When this proposed 30
300300 amendment is submitted to the electors of this state on the general election 31
301301 ballot: 32
302302 (1) The title of this Joint Resolution shall be the ballot 33
303303 title; and 34
304304 (2) The popular name shall be "A Constitutional Amendment t o 35
305305 Create a Procedure for the Recall of Persons Elected to the Offices of 36 HJR1007
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308308 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, 1
309309 Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, Commissioner of State Lands, Member of 2
310310 the House of Representatives, Member of the Senate, Chief Justice of the 3
311311 Supreme Court, Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Judge of the Court of 4
312312 Appeals, Judge of the Court of Appeals, Circuit Judge, District Judge, 5
313313 County Judge, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, 6
314314 Assessor, Coroner, Treasurer, County Surveyor, Collector of Taxes, or 7
315315 Constable.". 8
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