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 297 3
4
By: Senator K. Hammer 5
By: Representative Beck 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING MUNICIPALITIES 9
CHOOSING TO ELECT COUNCIL MEMBERS; TO REQUIRE THE 10
GOVERNING BODY OF THE MUNICIPALITY TO FILE THE 11
ORDINANCE DESCRIBING THE ELECTION OF CITY COUNCIL 12
MEMBERS WITH THE COUNTY CLERK; AND FOR OTHER 13
PURPOSES. 14
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Subtitle 17
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING 18
MUNICIPALITIES CHOOSING TO ELECT COUNCIL 19
MEMBERS; AND TO REQUIRE FILING OF THE 20
ORDINANCE DESCRIBING THE ELECTION OF 21
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WITH THE COUNTY 22
CLERK. 23
24
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 25
26
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 14 -43-307, concerning the election of 27
council members at large or by ward, is amended to add an additional 28
subsection to read as follows: 29
(c)(1) Ordinances enacted under subdivision (b)(1) of this section 30
shall be filed with the county clerk no later than August 31 of the calendar 31
year before the election of council members. 32
(2) A city of the first class that has an ordinance enacted 33
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall file the ordinance with the 34
county clerk no later than January 1, 2026. 35
(3) Once an ordinance is filed with the county clerk, changes 36 SB297
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shall not be made to the election of council members until a new ordinance is 1
passed by the governing body of the municipality and filed with the county 2
clerk by August 31 of the calendar year before the election of council 3
members. 4
(4) A city of the first class that does not file an ordinance 5
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall have its council members 6
elected at large. 7
8
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 14 -43-308, concerning the residence 9
qualifications of council members in primaries, is amended to add an 10
additional subsection read as follows: 11
(c)(1) Ordinances enacted under subdivision (b)(1) of this section 12
shall be filed with the county clerk no later than August 31 of the calendar 13
year before the election of council members. 14
(2) A city of the first class that has an ordinance enacted 15
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall file the ordinance with the 16
county clerk no later than January 1, 2026. 17
(3) Once an ordinance is filed with the county clerk, changes 18
shall not be made to the election of council members until a new ordinance is 19
passed by the governing body of the municipality and filed with the county 20
clerk by August 31 of the calendar year before the election of council 21
members. 22
(4) A city of the first class that does not file an ordinance 23
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall have its council members 24
elected at large. 25
26
SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 14 -43-309, concerning the residence 27
qualifications of council members in general elections, is amended to add an 28
additional subsection to read as follows: 29
(c)(1) Ordinances enacted under subdivision (b)(1) of this section 30
shall be filed with the county clerk no later than August 31 of the calendar 31
year before the election of council members. 32
(2) A city of the first class that has an ordinance enacted 33
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall file the ordinance with the 34
county clerk no later than January 1, 2026. 35
(3) Once an ordinance is filed with the county clerk, changes 36 SB297
3 02/25/2025 9:10:44 AM SSS172
shall not be made to the election of council members until a new ordinance is 1
passed by the governing body of the municipality and filed with the county 2
clerk by August 31 of the calendar year before the election of council 3
members. 4
(4) A city of the first class that does not file an ordinance 5
under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall have its council members 6
elected at large. 7
8
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 14 -44-103(b)(1)(C)(i), concerning the 9
election of council members in a city of the second class, is amended to read 10
as follows: 11
(C)(i) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(1)(C)(ii) of 12
this section, the county board of election commissioners in the city shall 13
ensure that the qualified electors of each ward have at least one (1) voting 14
precinct in each ward where the resident electors of the ward may cast their 15
ballots. 16
17
SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 14 -44-103, concerning the election of 18
council members in a city of the second class, is amended to add an 19
additional subsection to read as follows: 20
(e)(1) Ordinances enacted under subdivision (c)(1) of this section 21
shall be filed with the county clerk no later than August 31 of the calendar 22
year before the election of council members. 23
(2) A city of the second class that has an ordinance enacted 24
under subdivision (c)(1) of this section shall file the ordinance with the 25
county clerk no later than January 1, 2026. 26
(3) Once an ordinance is filed with the county clerk, changes 27
shall not be made to the election of council members until a new ordinance is 28
passed by the governing body of the municipality and filed with the county 29
clerk by August 31 of the calendar year before the election of council 30
members. 31
(4) A city of the second class that does not file an ordinance 32
under subdivision (c)(1) of this section shall have its council members 33
elected at large. 34
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