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 468 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 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING FLUORIDATION OF A 9
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM; TO ALLOWS VOTERS TO ELECT "FOR" 10
OR "AGAINST" WATER FLUORIDATION IN THE COUNTY; AND 11
FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING FLUORIDATION 16
OF A PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM; AND TO ALLOWS 17
VOTERS TO ELECT "FOR" OR "AGAINST" WATER 18
FLUORIDATION IN THE COUNTY. 19
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 116, Subchapter 1, is 23
amended to add an additional section to read as follows: 24
14-116-108. Election for fluoridation of water — Definition. 25
(a) Residents of counties supplied by a public water system shall have 26
the option to hold an election of the qualified electors of each county 27
supplied by the public water system to determine whether or not the public 28
water system shall fluoridate the water. 29
(b)(1) An election under this section may be called by: 30
(A) A petition for each county supplied by the public 31
water system signed by no less than five percent (5%) of the total number of 32
votes cast within the county for the office of county clerk in the last 33
election; or 34
(B) A majority vote of the quorum court of each county 35
supplied by the public water system. 36 SB468
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(2)(A) Except as provided under subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this 1
section, an election under this section shall be held at the next general 2
election. 3
(B) A subsequent election in the public water system under 4
this section shall not be held earlier than four (4) years after an election 5
is held under this section. 6
(3) Except as provided in this section, the election under this 7
section shall be held and conducted in accordance with the general election 8
laws of this state. 9
(4) The question of whether to fluoridate the water in the 10
public water system shall be placed upon the ballots of the qualified 11
electors in the following form: 12
"___ FOR THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [ NAME OF COUNTY] 13
___ AGAINST THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [ NAME OF 14
COUNTY].". 15
(c)(1) The petition under this section shall be filed with the county 16
clerk of the county where the sponsor of the petition resides no less than 17
one hundred twenty (120) days before the general election. 18
(2) No more than ten (10) days after the filing of the petition 19
under subdivision (c)(1) of this section, the county clerk shall: 20
(A) Verify the petition; 21
(B) Certify the petition; and 22
(C) Notify the county boards of election commissioners for 23
the counties within the public water system and the board of directors of the 24
public water system of the verification and certification of the petition. 25
(3) The petition shall clearly state: 26
(A) Which county is served by the public water system; and 27
(B) That the petition is to elect "for" or "against" 28
fluoridation of the water in the public water system. 29
(d) If the petition is sufficient, the question of whether to 30
fluoridate the water in the county shall be placed on the ballot of the 31
county indicated on the petition . 32
(e) If the majority of the qualified electors in each of the counties 33
supplied by the public water system elect to prohibit fluoridation of water, 34
the public water system shall cease fluoridation of the water within thirty 35
(30) days of the certification of the election results. 36 SB468
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(f) As used in this section, "public water system" means a facility, 1
including without limitation a parent system, consecutive system, or other 2
system, that holds, treats, and supplies water directly or through a 3
consecutive system or consecutive systems to five thousand (5,000) persons or 4
more. 5
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 20 -7-136(b), concerning a statewide 7
fluoridation program, is amended to read as follows: 8
(b)(1) The Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, 9
the company, corporation, municipality, county, government agency, or other 10
entity that owns or controls a water system shall control the quantity of 11
fluoride in the water so as to maintain a fluoride content established by the 12
Department of Health. 13
(2)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this 14
section, the board of a public water system may elect to prohibit 15
fluoridation of the water it supplies. 16
(B) The results of an election under § 14 -16-108 shall 17
supersede any decision of the board of a public water system regarding the 18
fluoridation of the water it supplies. 19
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