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Arkansas Senate Bill SB498

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB498 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 581 of the Regular Session
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43 State of Arkansas 1
54 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
65 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 498 3
76 4
87 By: Senator J. Petty 5
98 By: Representative N. Burkes 6
109 7
1110 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1211 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE OF 9
1312 DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS; TO PROTECT DRIVER AND 10
1413 VEHICLE RECORDS FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE; AND FOR OTHER 11
1514 PURPOSES. 12
1615 13
1716 14
1817 Subtitle 15
1918 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE 16
2019 OF DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS AND TO 17
2120 PROTECT DRIVER AND VEHICLE RECORDS FROM 18
2221 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 19
2322 20
2423 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
2524 22
2625 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 27 -14-412(a) and (b), concerning records of 23
2726 the Office of Motor Vehicle, are amended to read as follows: 24
2827 27-14-412. Records. 25
2928 (a)(1)(A) All records of the Office of Motor Vehicle, other than those 26
3029 declared by law to be confidential for the use of the Office of Motor 27
3130 Vehicle, shall be open to public inspection during office hours The Secretary 28
3231 of the Department of Finance and Administration and officers of the Office of 29
3332 Motor Vehicle designated by the secretary may prepare under the seal of the 30
3433 office a: 31
3534 (i) Certified copy of a motor vehicle registration 32
3635 record maintained by the office; or 33
3736 (ii) Noncertified electronic copy of a motor vehicle 34
3837 registration record maintained by the Office of Motor Vehicle 35
3938 (B) A copy of a motor vehicle registration record under 36 SB498
4039
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4241 subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section may be delivered to: 1
4342 (i) The person who is a registered owner of the 2
4443 motor vehicle; 3
4544 (ii) A person who has been authorized in writing by 4
4645 the registered owner of the motor vehicle to obtain the motor vehicle 5
4746 registration record; 6
4847 (iii) A federal, state, or local court for use in 7
4948 connection with a civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitral proceeding, 8
5049 including without limitation use: 9
5150 (a) In connection with the service of process; 10
5251 (b) In connection with the execution or 11
5352 enforcement of a judgment or order; or 12
5453 (c) Pursuant to an order of a federal, state, 13
5554 or local court; 14
5655 (iv) A duly licensed attorney at law in response to 15
5756 a subpoena properly issued in a federal, state, or local court action; or 16
5857 (v) A government agency or law enforcement agency 17
5958 for use in carrying out its function . 18
6059 (2) The use of lists or other aggregations of compilations of 19
6160 motor vehicle registration information is restricted to safety recall 20
6261 notification programs involving motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment, 21
6362 other federal and state agency programs, research and statistics involving 22
6463 motor vehicles in which individual identities are not published, disclosed, 23
6564 or for any other purpose authorized by the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 24
6665 1994, 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq., as it existed on January 1, 2015 2025. 25
6766 (3) Motor vehicle registration information shall not be sold, 26
6867 furnished, or used for solicitation purposes. 27
6968 (b)(1) The Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration 28
7069 and such officers of the Office of Motor Vehicle as the secretary may 29
7170 designate are authorized to prepare under the seal of the Office of Motor 30
7271 Vehicle and deliver upon request a certified copy of any record of the Office 31
7372 of Motor Vehicle or a noncertified electronic copy of any record of the 32
7473 Office of Motor Vehicle. 33
7574 (2)(1) A fee of one dollar ($1.00) shall be charged for each 34
7675 certified record authenticated. 35
7776 (3)(2) Every certified copy shall be admissible in any 36 SB498
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8079 proceeding in any court in like manner as the original. 1
8180 (4)(A)(3)(A) A party requesting a noncertified electronic record 2
8281 shall execute a written agreement with the Department of Finance and 3
8382 Administration that includes the following provisions: 4
8483 (i) An acknowledgment that the party requesting a 5
8584 record shall comply with all state and federal limits on the use of those 6
8685 records; and 7
8786 (ii) An agreement that the party seeking to obtain 8
8887 records shall hold harmless and indemnify the department for any money 9
8988 damages, punitive damages, criminal fines, civil penalties, court costs, and 10
9089 attorney's fees awarded to any person or entity by any state or federal court 11
9190 or by the Arkansas State Claims Commission resulting from any disclosure by 12
9291 the party of motor vehicle information that is contrary to state or federal 13
9392 law. 14
9493 (B) A fee of not less than twenty dollars and fifty cents 15
9594 ($20.50) nor more than thirty dollars ($30.00) per one thousand (1,000) 16
9695 records shall be charged for electronic records. 17
9796 18
9897 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code §§ 27 -19-406 and 27-19-407 are repealed. 19
9998 27-19-406. Operating record to be furnished. 20
10099 (a) The Office of Driver Services shall, upon request, furnish any 21
101100 person a certified abstract of the operating record of any person subject to 22
102101 the provisions of this chapter, which shall include enumeration of any motor 23
103102 vehicle accidents in which the person has been involved and reference to any 24
104103 convictions of the person for violation of the motor vehicle laws as reported 25
105104 to the Office of Driver Services, and a record of any vehicles registered in 26
106105 the name of the person. 27
107106 (b) The Office of Driver Services shall collect for each abstract the 28
108107 sum of fifty cents (50¢) for each page. 29
109108 30
110109 27-19-407. Public inspection of records. 31
111110 All records of the Office of Driver Services shall be open to public 32
112111 inspection at any reasonable time. 33
113112 34
114113 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 27 -50-906 is amended to read as follows: 35
115114 27-50-906. Furnishing of abstracts — Definition Definitions. 36 SB498
116115
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118117 (a) As used in this section: 1
119118 (1) "Abstract" means a report of the driver's personal 2
120119 information and the driving status and history of a driver generated from the 3
121120 driver record maintained by the Office of Driver Services, including without 4
122121 limitation documents provided to the office by any federal, state, or local 5
123122 court, law enforcement agency, or government agency; 6
124123 (2) “Driver confirmation record” means information in the office 7
125124 concerning the name, date of birth, and current address of the licensed 8
126125 driver; and 9
127126 (3) "Personal information" means information that identifies an 10
128127 individual, including without limitation an individual's social security 11
129128 number, driver identification number, name, address, and telephone number. 12
130129 (a)(1)(b)(1) The Office of Driver Services may furnish an abstract or 13
131130 driver confirmation record of any driver's record to: 14
132131 (A) The driver on whom the record has been compiled; 15
133132 (B) Any A person who has been authorized in writing by the 16
134133 driver to obtain the driver's record; 17
135134 (C) Any court having jurisdiction over traffic offenses A 18
136135 federal, state, or local court for use in connection with a civil, criminal, 19
137136 administrative, or arbitral proceeding, including without limitation use: 20
138137 (i) In connection with the service of process; 21
139138 (ii) In connection with the execution or enforcement 22
140139 of a judgment or order; or 23
141140 (iii) Pursuant to an order of a federal, state, or 24
142141 local court; 25
143142 (D) Any law enforcement officer, who shall use the report 26
144143 only in the line of duty in enforcing the traffic laws of this state A duly 27
145144 licensed attorney at law in response to a subpoena properly issued in a 28
146145 federal, state, or local court action ; 29
147146 (E) Employers of drivers, provided that the driver has 30
148147 given his or her written consent for the employer to obtain the driver's 31
149148 record; 32
150149 (F) Any An insurer licensed to do business in Arkansas or 33
151150 its agents, employees, or contractors in connection with the driving record 34
152151 or driver confirmation record of an insured or applicant and all licensed 35
153152 drivers in the household of the insured or applicant; and 36 SB498
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156155 (G) A governmental department or agency upon a showing of 1
157156 reasonable cause as to why the driver's record should be issued to the 2
158157 governmental department or agency in order for the governmental department or 3
159158 agency to effectively carry out its statutory duties A governmental agency or 4
160159 law enforcement agency for use in carrying out its functions . 5
161160 (2)(A) A driver's license status report shall be available to 6
162161 rental car companies who otherwise meet the requirements of this section for 7
163162 receiving an abstract of a driver's record upon the payment of one dollar 8
164163 ($1.00) for each license number checked. This fee shall be deposited to the 9
165164 State Treasury into the State Central Services Fund as a direct revenue to be 10
166165 used by the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration. 11
167166 (B) The Information Network of Arkansas may charge an 12
168167 additional fee under the Information Network of Arkansas Act, § 25 -27-101 et 13
169168 seq., for the service of transmitting this information electronically. 14
170169 (b) For purposes of this section, “driver confirmation record” means 15
171170 information in the Office of Driver Services concerning the name, date of 16
172171 birth, and current address of the licensed driver. 17
173172 (c)(1)(A) The fee for an insured's or applicant's driver confirmation 18
174173 record shall be ten cents (10¢) per record. 19
175174 (B) This fee shall be deposited into the fund as a direct 20
176175 revenue to be used by the division. 21
177176 (2) The network may charge an additional fee under the 22
178177 Information Network of Arkansas Act, § 25 -27-101 et seq., for the service of 23
179178 transmitting this information electronically. 24
180179 (d) A recipient of an abstract or driver confirmation record under 25
181180 this section may redisclose the information only for a use permitted under 26
182181 this section. 27
183182 (e) The Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration may 28
184183 promulgate rules and prescribe forms to implement this section. 29
185184 30
186185 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 27 -50-907 is amended to read as follows: 31
187186 27-50-907. Availability of recorded information. 32
188187 (a) All information concerning a driver's record shall be made 33
189188 available to the driver or his or her legal representative. 34
190189 (b)(1) Information such as medical reports or other personal 35
191190 information shall not be a part of any written report the Office of Driver 36 SB498
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194193 Services may provide, nor shall the Office of Driver Services allow any 1
195194 person to copy or reproduce such records. 2
196195 (2) Information in the central drivers' records file concerning 3
197196 the name, age, and current address of all drivers over the age of sixteen 4
198197 (16) years and under the age of twenty -six (26) years shall be made available 5
199198 to the Arkansas military recruiting coordinators for any of the United States 6
200199 Armed Forces for distribution to their branch offices. The information shall 7
201200 be available upon request of the military recruiting coordinators and may be 8
202201 requested and updated up to two (2) times during any calendar year. 9
203202 (c)(1) No The office may provide a digital driver's license photograph 10
204203 shall be disclosed to any individual or organization, except upon the written 11
205204 request for disclosure to a named individual or to a party by the person 12
206205 whose photograph is on the driver's license : 13
207206 (A)(i) To an individual or organization upon the written 14
208207 request for disclosure by the person whose photograph is on the driver's 15
209208 license. 16
210209 (ii) A written request under subdivision 17
211210 (c)(1)(A)(i) of this section shall name the individual or organization to 18
212211 whom the digital driver's license photograph shall be provided ; 19
213212 (B) When disclosure of the digital driver's license 20
214213 photograph is compelled by a court order or valid subpoena issued by a 21
215214 federal, state or local court; or 22
216215 (C) Upon the request of a federal, state, or local law 23
217216 enforcement agency for use in carrying out its functions . 24
218217 (2) A fee of five dollars ($5.00) shall be charged for each 25
219218 digital driver's license photograph provided by the Office of Driver Services 26
220219 office under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section . 27
221220 (d) The Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration may 28
222221 promulgate rules and prescribe forms to implement this section. 29
223222 30
224223 31
225-APPROVED: 4/14/25 32
224+ 32
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229228 36