Bill

HB 1933

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2025 Regular Session Introduced by Danny Sterling and 1 co-sponsor

HB 1933 creates a recall process to remove school district board members: 35% petition threshold, 10-day signature verification, and recall elections at the next board election.

Placed on General Order

WeVote Research Nonpartisan

Bill Summary · HB 1933

Summary — HB 1933 (95th Gen. Assembly, 2025) — Recall of School District Board Members

Purpose / Intent

HB 1933 would create a statutory process in Arkansas for initiating a recall election to remove a member of a school district board of directors. The bill adds recall as a specified reason creating a vacancy and establishes petition, verification, and election procedures for recall and removal.

Key provisions (by topic)

Legal change to vacancy statute
- Amends Ark. Code § 6-13-611(a) to add that a board member vacancy may result from a recall petition approved by a majority vote of electors qualified to vote for that office.
New recall statute — Ark. Code § 6-13-637 (added)
- Grounds for recall (non‑exclusive): "a moral failing leading to pending criminal charges" and "the loss of public trust" (language is illustrative and not exhaustive).
- Petition content requirements:
- Must name the member and office, state intent to hold a recall election, and state the reason for removal with an affidavit affirming truthfulness.
- Each signer must print legal name and residential address.
- Signature threshold and verification:
- Petition must be signed by at least 35% of electors qualified to vote for that office.
- County clerk verifies signatures within 10 days of filing and certifies if threshold is met; clerk promptly notifies the school board and county board of election commissioners.
- If the petition was filed with signatures equal to at least 35% but verification yields fewer valid signatures, petitioner receives an additional 10 days to circulate for supplemental signatures.
- Recall election timing:
- Generally held at the next school board election.
- If the next school board election is less than 60 days after petition certification, the recall election is held at the following school board election.
- Recall elections otherwise follow applicable laws for school board elections.
- Vacancy consequences:
- If removed, the vacancy is filled per Ark. Code § 6-13-611 (existing vacancy‑filling process).
- A person removed by recall may not be reappointed to that board seat.
- Limits:
- No more than one recall petition may be filed against a member during that member’s elected term.
Amendment H1 (technical changes)
- Replaces references to "circuit clerk" with "county clerk."
- Replaces several occurrences of "annual school" with "school board" and clarifies timing language for when a recall election is held.

Who would be affected

Directly: members of Arkansas school district boards of directors, electors in school district board races, petitioners seeking recall.
Administratively: county clerks (petition filing and signature verification), county boards of election commissioners, and local school district election administration.
Indirectly: school districts and communities subject to recalls (policy/leadership continuity).

Procedural / timeline elements

Verification: county clerk has 10 days to verify petition signatures after filing.
Supplemental circulation: petitioners may get an additional 10 days in limited circumstances.
Election scheduling: recall election is tied to the next (or following, if within 60 days) school board election date.
Limit of one recall attempt per term.

Fiscal impact

Fiscal Impact Statement prepared by the Arkansas Department of Education indicates "No Fiscal Impact."

Status and record inconsistencies

The documents provided include conflicting procedural histories and extraneous material:
- The bill text and amendment reflect Arkansas statutory changes (95th General Assembly, sponsor Rep. McCollum; Sen. Irvin listed).
- The supplied legislative actions list both activity consistent with passage/enrollment and an entry that the bill "Died In Committee" in Appropriations A (2025-02-26).
- The packet also contains unrelated text from a different state's HB1933 (Illinois) and other unrelated titles (e.g., an appropriation for storm shelters).
Given these contradictions, the procedural status in the official Arkansas legislative records should be checked to confirm whether this specific Arkansas HB 1933 advanced, was enacted, or died in committee.