House Votes On Bills

In the second week of the 2021 Regular Session, the House voted on bills addressing everything from car tags to jury duty pay.

The bills now advancing to the Senate include:

HB1028-This bill changes the length of time a consumer has to tag their vehicle. Current law gives car buyers 30 days to pay the sales tax and register a vehicle after purchase. HB 1028 would extend it to 60 days.

HB1059-This bill allows participants in a specialty court program, such as drug court, to transfer to a similar program if they move to another court district. This bill also includes guidelines for courts to establish a veterans treatment specialty court program and a DWI specialty court program. In addition, HB1059 sets to develop a domestic violence specialty court program.

Specialty courts are designed to lower the prison population by directing individuals to needed treatment programs.

HB1185-This bill allows the Department of Correction to make an administrative transfer of an inmate to the Division of Community Correction. This would not impact the length of a sentence but rather allow the department to transfer an inmate if they need behavioral or substance abuse treatment.

HB1058-This bill allows a juror to donate their per diem compensation and mileage reimbursement to an eligible nonprofit entity. The administrative office of the courts will be tasked with compiling a list of eligible nonprofits.

An eligible nonprofit should offer services in multiple counties and have as one of its primary goals the providing of:

• Crime victim assistance or counseling
• Services for abused or neglected children
• Shelter for victims of domestic violence
• Services for veterans
• Legal education for students seeking a Juris Doctor degree

HB1107-This bill amends the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to allow the Arkansas Department of Health to request physical or electronic copies of prescriptions from prescribers or dispensers when checking for accuracy.

The House reconvenes on Monday at 1 pm. You can find a list of all agendas and links to live-streams of all meetings at www.arkansashouse.org.