Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 282 3
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By: Senators C. Penzo, B. King 5
By: Representatives Duffield, Pilkington 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT AMENDING THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC WATER 9
SYSTEMS; TO ALLOW VOTERS TO ELECT "FOR" OR "AGAINST" 10
WATER FLUORIDATION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
AMENDING THE LAW CONCERNING PUBLIC WATER 15
SYSTEMS; AND TO ALLOW VOTERS TO ELECT 16
"FOR" OR "AGAINST" WATER FLUORIDATION. 17
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 116, Subchapter 1, is 21
amended to add an additional section to read as follows: 22
14-116-108. Election for fluoridation of water — Definition. 23
(a) Customers of a public water system shall have the option to hold 24
an election of the qualified electors of each county supplied by the public 25
water system to determine whether or not the public water system shall 26
fluoridate the water. 27
(b)(1) An election under this section may be called by: 28
(A) A petition for each county supplied by the public 29
water system signed by no less than five percent (5%) of the total number of 30
votes cast within the county for the office of county judge in the last 31
election; or 32
(B) A majority vote of the quorum court of a county 33
supplied by the public water system. 34
(2)(A) Except as provided under subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this 35
section, an election under this section shall be held at the next general 36 SB282
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election. 1
(B) A subsequent election in the public water system under 2
this section shall not be held earlier than four (4) years after an election 3
is held under this section. 4
(3) Except as provided in this section, the election under this 5
section shall be held and conducted in accordance with the general election 6
laws of this state. 7
(4) The question of whether to fluoridate the water in the 8
public water system shall be placed upon the ballots of the qualified 9
electors in the following form: 10
"___ FOR THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [DESCRIPTION OF THE 11
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM] 12
___ AGAINST THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [DESCRIPTION OF 13
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM].". 14
(c)(1) The petition under this section shall be filed with the county 15
clerk of the county where the sponsor of the petition resides no less than 16
one hundred twenty (120) days before the general election. 17
(2) No more than ten (10) days after the filing of the petition 18
under subdivision (c)(1) of this section, the county clerk shall: 19
(A) Verify the petition; 20
(B) Certify the petition; and 21
(C) Notify the county boards of election commissioners for 22
the counties within the public water system and the board of directors of the 23
public water system of the verification and certification of the petition. 24
(3) The petition shall clearly state: 25
(A) The boundaries of the public water system; and 26
(B) That the petition is to elect "for" or "against" 27
fluoridation of the water in the public water system. 28
(d) If the petition is sufficient, the question of whether to 29
fluoridate the water in the public water system shall be placed on the ballot 30
in each county supplied by the public water system. 31
(e) If the majority of the qualified electors of the majority of the 32
counties supplied by the public water system elect to prohibit fluoridation 33
of water, the public water system shall cease fluoridation of the water 34
within thirty (30) days of the certification of the election results. 35
(f) As used in this section, "public water system" means a facility, 36 SB282
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including without limitation a parent system, consecutive system, or other 1
system, that holds, treats, and supplies water directly or through a 2
consecutive system or consecutive systems to five thousand (5,000) persons or 3
more. 4
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 20 -7-136(b), concerning a statewide 6
fluoridation program, is amended to read as follows: 7
(b)(1) The Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, 8
the company, corporation, municipality, county, government agency, or other 9
entity that owns or controls a water system shall control the quantity of 10
fluoride in the water so as to maintain a fluoride content established by the 11
Department of Health. 12
(2)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this 13
section, the board of a public water system may elect to prohibit 14
fluoridation of the water it supplies. 15
(B) The results of an election under § 14 -16-108 shall 16
supersede any decision of the board of a public water system regarding the 17
fluoridation of the water it supplies. 18
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