Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 401 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 413 3
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By: Senator K. Hammer 5
By: Representative Hawk 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL DISTRICT 9
BOARD OF DIRECTORS; TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE 10
CERTIFICATION OF AN OATH FOR A SCHOOL BOARD DIRECTOR; 11
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING A SCHOOL 16
DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS; AND TO 17
AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE 18
CERTIFICATION OF AN OATH FOR A SCHOOL 19
BOARD DIRECTOR. 20
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 6 -13-617 is amended to read as follows: 24
6-13-617. Oath. [Effective May 1, 2024.] 25
(a)(1)(A) Each director shall, within ten (10) days after receiving 26
notice from the county clerk or his or her designee of his or her election or 27
within ten (10) days after receiving notice from the county clerk or his or 28
her designee of his or her appointment, subscribe to the following oath 29
before an individual authorized to administer oaths under § 21 -2-105: 30
“I, _____________, do hereby solemnly swear or affirm, that I 31
will support the United States Constitution and the Arkansas Constitution, 32
and that I will not be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract 33
made by the district of which I am a director, except as permitted by state 34
law, that I shall abide by the ethical guidelines and prohibitions under § 6 -35
24-101 et seq., and that I will faithfully discharge the duties as school 36 SB413
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director in _____________ School District upon which I am about to enter. 1
_____________ 2
Director's Signature 3
_____________ 4
Administrator's Signature 5
_____________ 6
Date. 7
_____________ Accepted 8
_____________ Rejected 9
_____________ Reason for rejection 10
_____________ 11
County Clerk's Signature ”. 12
(B) The notification from the county clerk or his or her 13
designee shall indicate the date by which the oath shall be subscribed to 14
that the oath shall be subscribed to within ten (10) days after receiving 15
notice from the county clerk or his or her designee of the director's 16
election or appointment . 17
(2)(A) After the oath is administered, the director shall submit 18
a certification of the administration of the oath to the county clerk or his 19
or her designee. 20
(B) The certification of the administration of the oath 21
shall contain: 22
(i) A copy of the oath; 23
(ii) The director's signature; 24
(iii) The administrator's signature; and 25
(iv) The date. 26
(C) The certification of the administration of the oath 27
shall be submitted to the county clerk or his or her designee no later than 28
the close of business on the date indicated in the notification from the 29
county clerk under subdivision (a)(1) of this section ten (10) days after 30
receiving notice from the county clerk or his or her designee of the 31
director's election or appointment . 32
(b)(1) The county clerk or his or her designee, upon receipt of the 33
certification of the administration of the oath prescribed for a director, 34
shall immediately: commission the director, and the director shall 35
immediately assume his or her duties as a director. 36 SB413
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(A) Verify that the: 1
(i) Certification of the administration of the oath 2
was submitted on or before the close of business on the date indicated in the 3
notification from the county clerk or his or her designee under subdivision 4
(a)(1) of this section; and 5
(ii) Individual before whom the oath was subscribed 6
to is an individual authorized to administer oaths under § 21 -2-105; and 7
(B) Either: 8
(i) Accept the certification of the administration 9
of the oath if it complies with the requirements of this section; or 10
(ii) Reject the certification of the administration 11
of the oath if it does not comply with one (1) or more of the requirements of 12
this section. 13
(2)(A) Immediately following the acceptance of the certification 14
of the administration of the oath, the county clerk or his or her designee 15
shall: 16
(i) Commission the director; 17
(ii) Provide the director a copy of § 6 -24-101 et 18
seq.; and 19
(iii) Require the director to sign an 20
acknowledgement that he or she received a copy of § 6 -24-101 et seq. 21
(B) The term of the director shall begin upon the 22
receiving of the commission under subdivision (b)(2)(A)(i) of this section. 23
(3) (2) By the close of business of the day following the 24
receipt of the certification of the administration of the oath, the county 25
clerk or his or her designee shall either: 26
(A)(i) Notify the superintendent of the school district by 27
phone that the individual has subscribed to the director's oath and that the 28
county clerk has accepted the certification of the administration of the 29
oath; and 30
(ii)(B) Send a copy of the certificate of the 31
administration of the oath to the school district's central office within 32
five (5) days; or 33
(B) If the certification of the administration of the oath 34
has not been timely received or otherwise rejected by the county clerk or his 35
or her designee, notify the superintendent of the school district by phone of 36 SB413
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the rejection of the certification of the administration of the oath by the 1
close of business on the day following the date indicated in the notification 2
from the county clerk or his or her designee under subdivision (a)(1) of this 3
section. 4
(c) The failure of an elected director to have the oath administered 5
and submit proof that the oath was administered as required under subsection 6
(a) of this section will result in: 7
(1) The individual's not being qualified to serve for the 8
purpose of Arkansas Constitution, Article 19, § 5; and 9
(2) A holdover. 10
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APPROVED: 3/25/25 13
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