Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB572 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2		-	Act 649 of the Regular Session
3		-	TNL375 04-01-2025 17:40:19 TNL375
4		-
5		-	State of Arkansas As Engrossed: S4/1/25 1
	2	+	TNL375 03/28/2025 9:02:26 AM TNL375
	3	+	State of Arkansas 1
6	4		95th General Assembly A Bill 2
7	5		Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 572 3
8	6		4
9	7		By: Senator J. Dotson 5
10	8		By: Representative McAlindon 6
11	9		7
12	10		For An Act To Be Entitled 8
13	11		AN ACT TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND 9
14	12		TRANSPARENCY ACT; TO REQUIRE PUBLIC ACCESS TO 10
15	13		LEARNING MATERIALS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
16	14		12
17	15		13
18	16		Subtitle 14
19	17		TO CREATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCESS AND 15
20	18		TRANSPARENCY ACT; AND TO REQUIRE PUBLIC 16
21	19		ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS. 17
22	20		18
23	21		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
24	22		20
25	23		SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Title. 21
26	24		This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Public School Access 22
27	25		and Transparency Act". 23
28	26		24
29	27		SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative intent. 25
30	28		The purpose of this act is to amend the Freedom of Information Act of 26
31	29		1967, § 25-19-101 et seq., to: 27
32	30		(1) Prevent the abuse of copyright claims by public records 28
33		-	custodians ~~for public schools~~ ; and 29
	31	+	custodians; and 29
34	32		(2) Guarantee access to school learning materials, thus ensuring 30
35	33		transparency and accountability in public education in the state. 31
36	34		32
37	35		SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-103(7), concerning the definition of 33
38	36		"public records" under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is amended to 34
39	37		read as follows: 35
40		-	(7)(A) “Public records” means writings, recorded sounds, films, 36 ~~As Engrossed: S4/1/25~~ SB572
	38	+	(7)(A) “Public records” means writings, recorded sounds, films, 36 SB572
41	39
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43		-
44		-
	40	+	2 03/28/2025 9:02:26 AM TNL375
45	41		tapes, electronic or computer -based information, or data compilations in any 1
46	42		medium required by law to be kept or otherwise kept and that constitute a 2
47	43		record of the performance or lack of performance of official functions that 3
48	44		are or should be carried out by a public official or employee, a governmental 4
49	45		agency, or any other agency or improvement district that is wholly or 5
50	46		partially supported by public funds or expending public funds. All records 6
51	47		maintained in public offices or by public employees within the scope of their 7
52	48		employment shall be presumed to be public records , including without 8
53	49		limitation learning materials used in or maintained by a public school or 9
54	50		public school district . 10
55	51		(B) “Public records” does not mean software acquired by 11
56	52		purchase, lease, or license; 12
57	53		13
58	54		SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-103, concerning definitions under the 14
59	55		Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is amended to add an additional 15
60	56		subdivision to read as follows: 16
61	57		(10)(A) "Learning materials" means curricula, syllabi, lesson 17
62	58		plans, instructional materials, assignments, presentations, books, articles, 18
63	59		video recordings, audio recordings, digital resources, or other resources 19
64		-	that are maintained and used by public schools for classroom instruction, 20
65		-	regardless of format or medium. 21
66		-	(B) "Learning materials" does not include tests or other 22
67		-	student assessments used by public schools or public school districts. 23
	60	+	that are used for classroom instruction, regardless of format or medium. 20
	61	+	(B) "Learning materials" does not include tests or other 21
	62	+	student assessments used by public schools or public school districts. 22
	63	+	23
	64	+	SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-105, concerning the examination and 24
	65	+	copying of public records under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is 25
	66	+	amended to add an additional subsection to read as follows: 26
	67	+	(i)(1) Access to learning materials shall not be denied to any 27
	68	+	resident on the grounds that disclosure, inspection, or copying of the 28
	69	+	learning materials would constitute an infringement of copyright under 29
	70	+	federal law. 30
	71	+	(2) A custodian of learning materials, including without 31
	72	+	limitation a public school, public school district, public official, public 32
	73	+	school employee, or government entity, shall not enter into an agreement or 33
	74	+	contract that purports to restrict public access to learning materials based 34
	75	+	on copyright, intellectual property rights, or any similar legal theory. 35
	76	+	(3)(A) Consistent with subsection (g) of this section, access 36 SB572
	77	+
	78	+	3 03/28/2025 9:02:26 AM TNL375
	79	+	shall not be denied to digital learning materials, including without 1
	80	+	limitation subscription -based services or other programs that can be accessed 2
	81	+	with personal electronic devices. 3
	82	+	(B) To the extent that copying digital learning materials 4
	83	+	under subdivision (i)(3)(A) of this section is impractical, a resident 5
	84	+	requesting to copy the digital learning materials shall be provided the 6
	85	+	opportunity to physically inspect the digital learning materials during 7
	86	+	normal business hours. 8
	87	+	(4)(A) Access to learning materials, including without 9
	88	+	limitation the physical inspection of digital learning materials, shall not 10
	89	+	be conditioned upon a resident seeking access to the learning materials being 11
	90	+	required to enter into any form of nondisclosure agreement or waiver of 12
	91	+	rights under this chapter. 13
	92	+	(B) For purposes of this section, "nondisclosure 14
	93	+	agreement" means a confidentiality agreement or contract provision that 15
	94	+	prohibits the disclosure of information by a party to the contract to a 16
	95	+	third-party. 17
	96	+	18
	97	+	SECTION 6. DO NOT CODIFY. Severability. If any provision of this act 19
	98	+	or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 20
	99	+	invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this act that 21
	100	+	can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this 22
	101	+	end, the provisions of this act are severable. 23
68	102		24
69		-	SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 25 -19-105, concerning the examination and 25
70		-	copying of public records under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, is 26
71		-	amended to add an additional subsection to read as follows: 27
72		-	(i)(1) Access to learning materials, as defined in § 25 -19-103, shall 28
73		-	not be denied to any resident on the grounds that disclosure, inspection, or 29
74		-	copying of the learning materials would constitute an infringement of 30
75		-	copyright under federal law. 31
76		-	(2) A custodian of learning materials shall not enter into an 32
77		-	agreement or contract that purports to restrict public access to learning 33
78		-	materials based on intellectual property rights, or any similar legal theory. 34
79		-	(3)(A) A person who receives access to copyrighted learning 35
80		-	materials under this section shall not publish, distribute, or utilize the 36 As Engrossed: S4/1/25 SB572
81		-
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83		-
84		-
85		-	copyrighted learning materials for any purpose other than public inspection. 1
86		-	(B) Any copies of copyrighted learning materials under 2
87		-	this section shall not exceed any amounts permissible under fair use 3
88		-	provisions of the copyright laws of the United States under 17 U.S.C. § 101 4
89		-	et seq., as it existed on January 1, 2025. 5
90		-	(4)(A) Consistent with subsection (g) of this section, access 6
91		-	for public inspection shall not be denied to digital learning materials, 7
92		-	including without limitation subscription -based services or other programs 8
93		-	that can be accessed with personal electronic devices. 9
94		-	(B) To the extent that copying digital learning materials 10
95		-	under subdivision (i)(4)(A) of this section is impractical, a resident 11
96		-	requesting to copy the digital learning materials shall be provided the 12
97		-	opportunity to physically inspect the digital learning materials during 13
98		-	normal business hours. 14
99		-	(5)(A) Subject to subdivision (i)(2) of this section, access to 15
100		-	learning materials, including without limitation the physical inspection of 16
101		-	digital learning materials, for public inspection shall not be conditioned 17
102		-	upon a resident seeking access to the learning materials being required to 18
103		-	enter into any form of nondisclosure agreement or waiver of rights under this 19
104		-	chapter. 20
105		-	(B) For purposes of this section, "nondisclosure 21
106		-	agreement" means a confidentiality agreement or contract provision that 22
107		-	prohibits the disclosure of information by a party to the contract to a 23
108		-	third-party. 24
109	103		25
110		-	~~SECTION 6. DO NOT CODIFY. Severability. If any provision of this act~~ 26
111		-	~~or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the~~ 27
112		-	~~invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this act that~~ 28
113		-	~~can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this~~ 29
114		-	~~end, the provisions of this act are severable.~~ 30
	104	+	26
	105	+	27
	106	+	28
	107	+	29
	108	+	30
115	109		31
116		-	~~/s/J. Dotson~~ 32
	110	+	32
117	111		33
118	112		34
119		-	~~APPROVED: 4/16/25~~ 35
	113	+	35
120	114		36