Bill
HJR 1003
Establishes government transparency as a constitutional right in Arkansas and requires voter approval for any transparency law, boosting citizen control and enabling lawsuits.
Note on source material
- The text you provided contains a mismatch in the heading (references to Oklahoma/eminent‑domain) but the full enrolled text and amendment are for the State of Arkansas: House Joint Resolution 1003 (HJR 1003), “Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2026.” This summary describes the Arkansas constitutional amendment text you supplied.
Summary — HJR 1003 (Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2026)
Purpose and overall intent
- Proposes a constitutional amendment declaring government transparency a right in Arkansas and imposing new, voter‑centered restrictions and procedures for enacting laws that affect government transparency. It also waives certain sovereign‑immunity protections for transparency enforcement and makes inconsistent state laws void to the extent they conflict with the amendment.
Key provisions
- Declaration of policy and right
- States that public business should be open and that “government transparency is a right of the citizens of Arkansas.”
- Definition
- “Government transparency” is defined as the government’s obligation to share information with citizens or to deliver information to citizens.
- Procedure for enacting laws about government transparency
- The General Assembly may not enact a law concerning government transparency except by referring such a bill to voters at the next general election. A referred bill must be adopted by a two‑thirds (2/3) majority in each house to go to the ballot.
- Referred bills affecting transparency do not take effect until approved by voters at that election.
- Emergency exception: if immediate effect is deemed necessary for public peace, health, or safety, the General Assembly may declare an emergency by a nine‑tenths (9/10) vote of each house, making the law effective immediately — but if voters later reject the law at the next general election it ceases to be in effect.
- Referred transparency bills must be published as required under Article 19, §22, but such a referred bill is not considered a referred constitutional amendment under Article 19, §22.
- Protection of this amendment’s amendment process
- The General Assembly is prohibited from proposing an amendment to this amendment via Article 19, §22. The people retain authority under Article 5, §1 to amend this amendment or statutes concerning transparency.
- Waiver of sovereign immunity and attorney’s fees
- The State of Arkansas may be sued for failure to comply with Arkansas transparency law; prevailing citizens may recover attorney’s fees in such actions.
- Supremacy, severability, effective date
- Any Arkansas constitutional provision, statute, or common law inconsistent with this amendment is declared null and void to the extent of the conflict, except it does not alter (1) the constitutional powers of the Arkansas Supreme Court or (2) the General Assembly’s constitutional authority to determine rules affecting openness of legislative meetings.
- Provisions are severable.
- Effective date: November 4, 2026.
- Ballot language
- Ballot title: the title of the joint resolution.
- Popular name: “Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment.”
Who would be affected
- State and local government entities and officials (requests for information and disclosure obligations).
- The Arkansas General Assembly (new procedural constraints on enacting transparency laws and restricted ability to unilaterally amend the amendment).
- Arkansas citizens (expanded enforceable right to transparency and standing to sue the State with recovery of attorney’s fees).
- Courts (more litigation over transparency obligations and interpretation of conflicts with existing law).
Potential impacts and implications
- Increases direct voter control over transparency policy by generally requiring voter approval for laws affecting transparency.
- Raises the threshold for legislative action on transparency matters (2/3 to refer; 9/10 emergency exception).
- Likely to generate litigation — both to enforce disclosure rights and to resolve conflicts between current statutes or common law and this amendment — since it waives sovereign immunity and authorizes attorney’s fee awards.
- Could invalidate existing statutes, rules, or practices inconsistent with the amendment, prompting administrative and statutory revisions.
- Preserves the legislature’s authority to set rules on openness of legislative meetings and does not change judicial powers explicitly.
Legislative status and sponsors (from provided record)
- Primary sponsor: Representative A. Collins; Amendment added Representative Springer.
- Key procedural actions (selection):
- Filed: 11/20/2024
- Amendment No. 1 read and adopted; bill ordered engrossed (1/16/2025)
- Placed on second reading for amendment (1/16/2025); second reading referred to Rules (2/4/2025)
- Died in House Committee at Sine Die adjournment (5/05/2025)
If you want, I can:
- Extract and compare specific existing Arkansas statutes and constitutional provisions that would be affected, or
- Draft plain‑language ballot text based on the amendment for voter information.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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