Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to the Arkansas
Constitution.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly 2
Regular Session, 2025 HJR 1009 3
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By: Representative K. Brown 5
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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 8
AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION TO BE KNOWN 9
AS THE ARKANSAS VICTIMS' BILL OF RIGHTS; AND TO 10
PROVIDE RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF MISDEMEANOR AND FELONY 11
OFFENSES, INCLUDING VICTIMS IN THE ADULT AND JUVENILE 12
JUSTICE SYSTEMS. 13
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Subtitle 16
AN AMENDMENT TO THE ARKANSAS 17
CONSTITUTION TO BE KNOWN AS THE ARKANSAS 18
VICTIMS' BILL OF RIGHTS; AND TO PROVIDE 19
RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF MISDEMEANOR AND 20
FELONY OFFENSES, INCLUDING VICTIMS IN 21
THE ADULT AND JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS. 22
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FIFTH GENERAL 24
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, AND BY THE SENATE, A MAJORITY OF ALL 25
MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE AGREEING THERETO: 26
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THAT the following is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of 28
the State of Arkansas, and upon being submitted to the electors of the state 29
for approval or rejection at the next general election for Representatives 30
and Senators, if a majority of the electors voting thereon at the election 31
adopt the amendment, the amendment shall become a part of the Constitution of 32
the State of Arkansas, to wit: 33
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SECTION 1. The Arkansas Constitution is amended to add an additional 35
amendment to read as follows: 36 HJR1009
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§ 1. Title. 1
This amendment shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas 2
Victims' Bill of Rights.” 3
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§ 2. Victim’s rights. 5
(a)(1) As used in this section, “victim” means an individual directly 6
and proximately harmed by the commission of an offense under any law of this 7
state, regardless of whether the offense is classified as a misdemeanor or a 8
felony. 9
(2) "Victim" includes the legal guardian of a victim, a 10
representative of a victim's estate, a member of a victim's family, a 11
significant other of the victim, or any other individual appointed by a court 12
to act on a victim's behalf if the victim is: 13
(i) Less than eighteen (18) years old; 14
(ii) Incompetent; 15
(iii) Incapacitated; or 16
(iv) Deceased. 17
(3) "Victim does not include: 18
(A) The defendant; or 19
(B) A person whom the court finds would not act in the 20
best interest of the minor, incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased victim. 21
(b) A victim has a right to: 22
(1) Be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy 23
and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, and abuse 24
throughout the criminal or juvenile justice process; 25
(2) Be reasonably protected from the defendant and any 26
individual acting on behalf of the defendant; 27
(3) Have the safety of the victim and the victim's family 28
considered as a factor in setting the amount of bail and conditions of 29
release for the defendant; 30
(4) Refuse an interview, deposition request, or other discovery 31
request and to set reasonable conditions on the conduct of any interview, 32
deposition, or other discovery request to which the victim consents; 33
(5) Upon request, reasonably confer with the prosecuting 34
attorney regarding the case against the defendant; 35
(6) Upon request, receive reasonable notice of all public 36 HJR1009
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proceedings and delinquency proceedings at which the defendant and the 1
prosecuting attorney are entitled to be present and to be present at all 2
public proceedings and delinquency proceedings; 3
(7) Upon request, to be reasonably heard at any public 4
proceedings or administrative proceedings in any court or other venue 5
involving the release, plea, sentencing or any other proceedings which 6
implicates a victim’s rights, to include delinquency proceedings and 7
postconviction release proceedings; 8
(8) The timely disposition of the case following the arrest of 9
the defendant; 10
(9) Provide information to a public officer or employee 11
conducting a presentence investigation concerning the impact of the offense 12
on the victim and the victim's family and to see any sentencing report and 13
recommendations before the sentencing of the defendant; 14
(10) Upon request, be informed of the: 15
(A) Conviction, sentence, place, and time of 16
incarceration, or other disposition of the defendant; 17
(B) Scheduled release date of the defendant; and 18
(C) Release of or escape by the defendant from custody; 19
(11) Full and timely restitution; 20
(12) The proper return of legal property when no longer needed 21
as evidence; 22
(13) Upon request, to be timely informed of and to be present at 23
all postconviction release proceedings, to provide information to the 24
postconviction release authority to be considered before the release of the 25
defendant, and to be notified of any postconviction release ; 26
(14) Have the safety of the victim, the victim's family, and the 27
general public considered before any postconviction release of the defendant; 28
(15) Have all monetary payments, money, and property collected 29
from any individual who has been ordered to make restitution be first applied 30
to pay the amounts ordered as restitution to the victim; and 31
(16) Be specifically informed of the rights enumerated in this 32
section and to have information concerning the rights enumerated in this 33
section made available to the general public. 34
(c)(1) A victim has standing to assert the rights under this section 35
in any court with jurisdiction over the case involving the defendant. 36 HJR1009
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(2) The court shall promptly rule on a request by a victim under 1
subdivision (c)(1) of this section. 2
(3) A defendant does not have standing to assert the rights of 3
his or her victim under this section. 4
(d) This section does not alter the powers, duties, or 5
responsibilities of a prosecuting attorney. 6
(e) A victim does not have the status of a party in a criminal 7
proceeding. 8
(f)(1) Except as authorized in subsection (g) of this section, an 9
individual shall not maintain an action against the state or any public 10
officer or employee of the state for damages or for injunctive, declaratory, 11
or other legal or equitable relief on behalf of a victim as a result of a 12
violation of: 13
(A) This section; or 14
(B) A statute enacted by the General Assembly under this 15
section. 16
(2) A violation of this section does not authorize setting aside 17
a conviction. 18
(g) An individual may maintain an action to compel a public officer or 19
employee to carry out any duty required by: 20
(1) This section; or 21
(2) A statute enacted by the General Assembly under this 22
section. 23
(h) The rights granted to victims under this section shall not be 24
construed to deny or disparage other rights possessed by victims, including 25
without limitation rights granted by the General Assembly or otherwise 26
retained by victims. 27
(i) A postconviction release authority shall extend the right to be 28
heard at a postconviction release hearing to any individual harmed by the 29
defendant. 30
(j) The General Assembly may provide by law for any other measure 31
necessary or useful to secure to victims the benefit of the rights under this 32
section. 33
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SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment is effective on and after 35
January 1, 2027. 36 HJR1009
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1
SECTION 3. BALLOT TITLE AND POPULAR NAME. When this proposed 2
amendment is submitted to the electors of this state on the general election 3
ballot: 4
(1) The title of this Joint Resolution shall be the ballot 5
title; and 6
(2) The popular name shall be "A Constitutional Amendment t o be 7
Known as the "Arkansas Victims' Bill of Rights" and to Provide Rights for 8
Victims of Misdemeanor and Felony Offenses, including Victims in the Adult 9
and Juvenile Justice Systems.". 10
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