AR
Arkansas Senate Bill SB400

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB400 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 933 of the Regular Session
3-*CRH199* 04-09-2025 13:41:33 CRH199
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5-State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S3/19/25 S3/31/25 S4/9/25 1
2+*CRH199* 03/06/2025 9:52:57 AM CRH199
3+State of Arkansas 1
64 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
75 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 400 3
86 4
97 By: Senator Irvin 5
108 By: Representatives Milligan, Cavenaugh, Steimel, Cozart, Wooldridge, Vaught 6
119 7
1210 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1311 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING AGRICULTURE; TO 9
1412 AMEND THE FAIR-FUNDING PROGRAM; AND FOR OTHER 10
1513 PURPOSES. 11
1614 12
1715 13
1816 Subtitle 14
1917 TO AMEND THE FAIR-FUNDING PROGRAM. 15
2018 16
2119 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 17
2220 18
2321 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 2-36-101 is amended to read as follows: 19
2422 2-36-101. Fair-funding program Funding for livestock shows and fairs — 20
25-Requirements — Districts — Definition. 21
23+Requirements — Districts. 21
2624 (a) There is created within the Department of Agriculture a fair -22
2725 funding program that shall be used to provide fair-funding assistance to 23
2826 junior livestock shows, county fairs, district fairs, and the Arkansas State 24
2927 Fair and Livestock Show. 25
3028 (b) The department shall utilize a historical average of total fair 26
3129 funding provided by the State of Arkansas to previous fair -funding recipients 27
3230 in determining an equitable distribution of available funding appropriated by 28
3331 the General Assembly. 29
34- (c)(1)(A)(1) A recipient of fair funding under the fair-funding 30
35-program financial assistance provided by the Department of Agriculture under 31
36-subsection (a) subsection (b) of this section shall : 32
37- (i) Maintain records of expenditures; and 33
38- (ii) Submit an annual financial report to the 34
39-department and to Arkansas Legislative Audit by the end of each calendar 35
40-year. 36 As Engrossed: S3/19/25 S3/31/25 S4/9/25 SB400
32+ (c)(1)(A) A recipient of fair funding under the fair -funding program 30
33+under subsection (a) of this section shall: 31
34+ (i) Maintain records of expenditures; and 32
35+ (ii) Submit an annual financial report to the 33
36+department and to Arkansas Legislative Audit by the end of each calendar 34
37+year. 35
38+ (B) A recipient of fair funding is subject to a decrease 36 SB400
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41+in future funding if the recipient of fair funding does not: 1
42+ (i) Submit an annual financial report as required 2
43+under subdivision (c)(1)(A)(ii) of this section; or 3
44+ (ii) Provide proof of yearly continuing education 4
45+requirements under guidance adopted by the department. 5
46+ (2) A recipient of fair funding under the fair -funding program 6
47+established under subsection (a) of this section is subject to audit by 7
48+Arkansas Legislative Audit (1) The Department of Agriculture is authorized 8
49+to provide financial assistance to livestock shows and fairs . 9
50+ (2) Financial assistance provided by the department under 10
51+subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall be in accordance with the 11
52+department's annual appropriation approved by the General Assembly. 12
53+ (3) Future fiscal year funding from the state shall not be 13
54+distributed to a livestock show or fair until all requirements of this 14
55+section are met. 15
56+ (b)(1) A recipient of financial assistance under subsection (a) of 16
57+this section shall: 17
58+ (A) Submit the following items each fiscal year to the 18
59+department and Arkansas Legislative Audit: 19
60+ (i) An annual financial report for the previous 20
61+state fiscal year that includes without limitation an accounting of state 21
62+funding utilization; 22
63+ (ii) An annual operating plan for the upcoming year; 23
64+and 24
65+ (iii) A certificate of good standing from the 25
66+Secretary of State; and 26
67+ (B) Be subject to an audit at any time by Arkansas 27
68+Legislative Audit. 28
69+ (2) A county fair that utilizes county facilities or county 29
70+funds for a livestock show or fair shall submit the information in 30
71+subdivisions (b)(1)(A)(i) -(iii) of this section to the county quorum court 31
72+for review and approval before submitting to the department and to Arkansas 32
73+Legislative Audit. 33
74+ (c) A recipient of financial assistance under this section shall not 34
75+utilize funding provided by the state to pay association fees, dues, or other 35
76+association-related expenses. 36 SB400
4377
44-
45- (B) A recipient of fair funding is subject to a decrease 1
46-in future funding if the recipient of fair funding does not: 2
47- (i) Submit an annual financial report as required 3
48-under subdivision (c)(1)(A)(ii) of this section; or 4
49- (ii) Provide provide proof of yearly continuing 5
50-education requirements under guidance adopted by the department. 6
51- (2) A recipient of fair funding under the fair -funding program 7
52-established financial assistance under subsection (a) subsection (b) of this 8
53-section is subject to audit by Arkansas Legislative Audit. 9
54- (b)(1) The department is authorized to provide financial assistance to 10
55-livestock shows and fairs . 11
56- (2) Financial assistance provided by the department under 12
57-subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be in accordance with the 13
58-department's annual appropriation approved by the General Assembly. 14
59- (3) Future fiscal year funding from the state shall not be 15
60-distributed to a livestock show or fair until all requirements of this 16
61-section are met. 17
62- (c)(1) A recipient of financial assistance under subsection (b) of 18
63-this section shall: 19
64- (A) Submit the following items each fiscal year to the 20
65-department and Arkansas Legislative Audit: 21
66- (i) An annual financial report for the previous 22
67-state fiscal year that includes without limitation an accounting of state 23
68-funding utilization; 24
69- (ii) An annual operating plan for the upcoming year; 25
70-and 26
71- (iii) A certificate of good standing from the 27
72-Secretary of State; and 28
73- (B) Be subject to an audit at any time by Arkansas 29
74-Legislative Audit. 30
75- (2) A county fair that utilizes county facilities or county 31
76-funds for a livestock show or fair shall submit the information in 32
77-subdivisions (c)(1)(A)(i)-(iii) of this section to the county quorum court 33
78-for review before submitting to the department and to Arkansas Legislative 34
79-Audit. 35
80- (d) A recipient of financial assistance under this section shall not 36 As Engrossed: S3/19/25 S3/31/25 S4/9/25 SB400
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84-
85-utilize funding provided by the state to pay association fees, dues, or other 1
86-association-related expenses. 2
87- (e) A county extension agent shall serve as an ex officio member of a 3
88-county fair board. 4
89- (f) An exhibitor may participate in one (1) district fair of his or 5
90-her choice. 6
91- (g) The following counties shall be members of the districts as 7
92-follows: 8
93- (1) Cleburne County, Fulton County, Izard County, Sharp County, 9
94-Stone County, and Van Buren County shall be in the North Central District; 10
95- (2) Mississippi County, Craighead County, Greene County, Clay 11
96-County, Crittenden County, St. Francis County, Cross County, Poinsett County, 12
97-Jackson County, Lawrence County, Randolph County, Lee County, Independence 13
98-County, Monroe County, Phillips County , Woodruff County, and White County 14
99-shall be in the Northeast District; 15
100- (3) Baxter County, Boone County, Carroll County, Madison County, 16
101-Marion County, Newton County, and Searcy County shall be in the Northwest 17
102-District; 18
103- (4) Arkansas County, Ashley County, Bradley County, Calhoun 19
104-County, Chicot County, Cleveland County, Dallas County, Drew County, Grant 20
105-County, Faulkner County, Lincoln County, Lonoke County, Ouachita County, and 21
106-Prairie County shall be in the South Arkansas District; 22
107- (5) Clark County, Columbia County, Garland County, Hempstead 23
108-County, Hot Spring County, Howard County, Lafayette County, Little River 24
109-County, Miller County, Montgomery County, Nevada County, Pike County, Saline 25
110-County, Sevier County, and Union County shall be in the Southwest Arkansas 26
111-District; 27
112- (6) Benton County, Conway County, Crawford County, Franklin 28
113-County, Johnson County, Logan County, Perry County, Polk County, Pope County, 29
114-Scott County, Sebastian County, Washington County, and Yell County shall be 30
115-in the Arkansas-Oklahoma District as provided under § 2 -36-307; and 31
116- (7) Lee County, Monroe County, and Phillips County shall be in 32
117-the Tri-County Fair. 33
118- (h)(1) For purposes of financial assistance under this section, the 34
119-Four States Fair hosted in Texarkana, Arkansas, shall be treated the same as 35
120-a district fair under this section. 36 As Engrossed: S3/19/25 S3/31/25 S4/9/25 SB400
121-
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123-
124-
125- (2) Residency restrictions on exhibitors shall not apply to this 1
126-subsection (h). 2
127- (i) As used in this section, "fair" means an event that includes 3
128-without limitation livestock shows, consumer and family science, 4
129-entertainment, and educational activities and programs . 5
130- 6
131-/s/Irvin 7
132- 8
133- 9
134-APPROVED: 4/21/25 10
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137- 13
138- 14
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140- 16
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79+ (d) A county extension agent shall serve as a member of a county fair 1
80+board. 2
81+ (e) An exhibitor may only participate in the district fair of his or 3
82+her primary residence. 4
83+ (f) The following counties shall be members of the districts as 5
84+follows: 6
85+ (1) Cleburne County, Fulton County, Independence County, Izard 7
86+County, Sharp County, Stone County, and Van Buren County shall be in the 8
87+North Central District; 9
88+ (2) Mississippi County, Craighead County, Greene County, Clay 10
89+County, Crittenden County, St. Francis County, Cross County, Poinsett County, 11
90+Jackson County, Lawrence County, Randolph County, Lee County, Woodruff 12
91+County, and White County shall be in the Northeast District; 13
92+ (3) Baxter County, Boone County, Carroll County, Madison County, 14
93+Marion County, Newton County, and Searcy County shall be in the Northwest 15
94+District; 16
95+ (4) Arkansas County, Ashley County, Bradley County, Calhoun 17
96+County, Chicot County, Cleveland County, Dallas County, Drew County, Grant 18
97+County, Faulkner County, Lincoln County, Lonoke County, Ouachita County, and 19
98+Prairie County shall be in the South Arkansas District; 20
99+ (5) Clark County, Columbia County, Garland County, Hempstead 21
100+County, Hot Springs County, Howard County, Lafayette County, Little River 22
101+County, Miller County, Montgomery County, Nevada County, Pike County, Saline 23
102+County, Sevier County, and Union County shall be in the Southwest Arkansas 24
103+District; and 25
104+ (6) Benton County, Conway County, Crawford County, Franklin 26
105+County, Johnson County, Logan County, Perry County, Polk County, Pope County, 27
106+Scott County, Sebastian County, Washington County, and Yell County shall be 28
107+in the Arkansas-Oklahoma District as provided under § 2 -36-307. 29
108+ (g)(1) For purposes of financial assistance under this section, the 30
109+Four States Fair hosted in Texarkana, Arkansas, shall be treated the same as 31
110+a district fair under this section. 32
111+ (2) Residency restrictions on exhibitors shall not apply to this 33
112+subsection (g). 34
159113 35
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