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 489 3
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By: Senators G. Leding, G. Stubblefield 5
By: Representatives Clowney, D. Garner, D. Whitaker 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT 9
OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS IN 10
RECOGNITION OF THE DESEGREGATION OF THE CHARLESTON 11
AND FAYETTEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1954; AND FOR 12
OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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Subtitle 16
TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE 17
PLACEMENT OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE 18
CAPITOL GROUNDS IN RECOGNITION OF THE 19
DESEGREGATION OF THE CHARLESTON AND 20
FAYETTEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1954. 21
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 23
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SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. FINDINGS AND LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a) The 25
General Assembly finds that: 26
(1) Charleston School District in Charleston, Arkansas, and 27
Fayetteville School District in Fayetteville, Arkansas, were acknowledged as 28
the first school districts to desegregate their schools in the former 29
Confederate States of America; 30
(2) Following the May 17, 1954, decision of the United States 31
Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, the school boards of 32
Fayetteville and Charleston voted to integrate their schools beginning in the 33
fall of 1954, with Fayetteville making the decision just four (4) days after 34
the Brown v. Board of Education opinion; 35
(3) On August 23, 1954, eleven (11) African -American students 36 SB489
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attended classes in Charleston with no publicity as the school board and the 1
superintendent persuaded the local newspaper and civic and business leaders 2
not to discuss their desegregation plans with out -of-town sources; 3
(4) When Fayetteville High School integrated on September 10, 4
1954, the Charleston School Board President revealed that Charleston had 5
peacefully integrated three (3) weeks earlier; 6
(5) While integration in Charleston and Fayetteville was spared 7
some of the problems experienced by other schools during the early days of 8
desegregation, the districts faced challenges such as football teams refusing 9
to play Charleston and Fayetteville as there were black players on the teams 10
and Charleston being excluded from some band competitions because of their 11
black band members; 12
(6) United States Senator Dale Bumpers, a former member of the 13
Charleston School Board, sponsored legislation in 1998 designating Charleston 14
High School as a National Commemorative Site; and 15
(7) It is appropriate to commemorate the historic achievement of 16
being the first school districts in the former Confederate States of America 17
to desegregate their schools by placing a monument on the State Capitol 18
grounds in recognition of the school districts in Charleston and 19
Fayetteville. 20
(b) It is the intent of this act to place a monument on the State 21
Capitol grounds in recognition of the historic desegregation of the 22
Charleston School District and the Fayetteville School District in 1954. 23
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 19 -5-1125(e)(2), concerning the Arkansas 25
Capitol Grounds Monument and Memorial Preservation Fund and as amended by 26
Acts 2025, No. 251, is amended to read as follows: 27
(2) Before the expenditure of any moneys from the Arkansas 28
Capitol Grounds Monument and Memorial Preservation Fund for the maintenance, 29
repair, alteration, addition, reconstruction, or upkeep of any kind for a 30
specific monument or memorial areas on State Capitol grounds, if there is a 31
fund dedicated to that specific monument or memorial, the Secretary of State 32
shall utilize the gifts, grants, and donations made to the following funds 33
for the maintenance, repair, alteration, addition, reconstruction, or upkeep 34
of that specific monument or memorial: 35
(A) Vietnam Veterans Monument Fund; 36 SB489
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(B) Arkansas Military War Veterans Monument Fund; 1
(C) Ten Commandments Monument Display Act under § 22 -3-2
221; 3
(D) Gold Star Family Memorial Monument Fund; 4
(E) Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial Board under § 5
22-3-1704; and 6
(F) Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Fund ; and 7
(G) Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial 8
Monument Fund. 9
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code Title 19, Chapter 5, Subchapter 11, is 11
amended to add an additional section to read as follows: 12
19-5-1161. Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument 13
Fund. 14
(a) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the 15
Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a trust fund to 16
be known as the “Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument 17
Fund”. 18
(b) The fund shall consist of gifts, grants, and donations from 19
individuals and organizations as provided under the Charleson and 20
Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument Act, § 22 -3-225, and other funds 21
as may be provided by law. 22
(c) The fund shall be used exclusively for the purpose of erecting and 23
maintaining a suitable monument on the State Capitol grounds in recognition 24
of the desegregation of the Charleston and Fayetteville school districts in 25
1954, as provided in the Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial 26
Monument Act, § 22-3-225. 27
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code Title 22, Chapter 3, Subchapter 2, is amended 29
to add an additional section to read as follows: 30
22-3-225. Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument 31
Act. 32
(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Charleston 33
and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument Act”. 34
(b)(1) The Secretary of State shall permit and arrange for the 35
placement on the State Capitol grounds of a monument commemorating the 36 SB489
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desegregation of the Charleston and Fayetteville School Districts in 1954. 1
(2) The monument shall be placed on the State Capitol grounds 2
where there are other monuments. 3
(3) The Secretary of State shall approve the design and site 4
selection for the monument through consultation with the Capitol Arts and 5
Grounds Commission. 6
(c) The Secretary of State may accept gifts, grants, and donations 7
from individuals and organizations to be deposited as trust funds into the 8
Charleston and Fayetteville Desegregation Memorial Monument Fund. 9
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