Bill
HB 1757
Arkansas would create a new criminal offense for tampering with rail infrastructure, punishable as a Class D felony, to deter interference with trains, signals, and safety.
Status: Died in Conference (3/29/2025)
Intro: 01/07/2025
Primary Sponsors: Rep. Joey Carr; Sen. J. Bryant
Note on source materials
- The document provided appears to be a compiled/mixed file containing text from multiple different HB 1757 bills across jurisdictions (an Arkansas bill to create a rail‑tampering offense, lengthy appropriation language apparently for an Attorney General office from another state, and an Illinois property‑tax amendment). This summary focuses on the primary substantive statute text included in the file — an Arkansas proposal to create the offense of “tampering with rail infrastructure” — and then briefly notes the presence of unrelated appropriation and Illinois property‑tax text in the document. If you want a focused summary of the appropriation language or the Illinois text, tell me which jurisdiction to prioritize.
Purpose and intent
- The bill’s stated intent is to protect railroad operations and infrastructure by creating a new criminal offense for tampering with rail infrastructure and thereby deterring acts that interfere with rail transport and safety.
Key provisions (Arkansas rail infrastructure tampering)
- New section added to Arkansas Code, Title 23, Chapter 12, Subchapter 8: defines and criminalizes “tampering with rail infrastructure.”
- Definitions:
- “Interfere” — to tamper with, displace, remove, damage, disable, destroy, set fire to, impair, obstruct, or otherwise hinder.
- “Rail infrastructure” — includes trains/locomotives/freight or passenger cars or other on‑track equipment; railroad tracks/structures; signaling or communication systems or components; stations, terminals, depots, and related facilities on property owned, leased, used, or operated for railroad operations.
- Prohibited conduct (without lawful authority or permission):
- Recklessly tampering with or placing obstructions on tracks, ties, switches, ballast, bridges, tunnels, trestles, culverts, embankments, and related structures.
- Interfering with signals, train control systems, centralized dispatching, wayside detectors, communication towers or lines, or highway‑rail grade crossing warning systems.
- Placing or releasing biological agents, toxins, destructive substances, or devices in/near/on rail infrastructure.
- Detaching equipment, initiating emergency brake applications, or otherwise impeding movement of rail equipment.
- Assaulting or injuring rail passengers, railroad employees, railroad police officers, or persons on or within rail infrastructure.
- Making terroristic threats to commit any of the above acts.
- Attempting, threatening, or conspiring to commit the above acts; or knowingly conveying false reports about attempts to commit such acts.
- Penalty: Classified as a Class D felony.
Who would be affected
- Railroad companies and their employees (as protected parties).
- Persons who physically interfere with rail infrastructure or who make false reports or threats regarding such interference — these persons would face criminal prosecution under the new offense.
- Public safety and emergency responders could see enforcement and investigative effects; transportation system reliability and the public using rail services could be indirectly affected by deterrence and prosecution.
Procedural / timeline notes
- Text shows amendment (Amendment H1) and engrossed form dated 3/19/2025.
- Committee activity and hearings are recorded in March–April 2025.
- The legislative history included conflicting or cross‑jurisdictional entries (including appropriation amendment text and references to other states). The consolidated file indicates that the measure ultimately “Died In Conference” on 3/29/2025; therefore, the Arkansas rail‑tampering provision did not become law as presented here.
- No effective date is specified in the included statute text.
Other material in the file
- Substantial appropriation and performance reporting language (budget/headcount, performance measures, and dollar figures such as $30,390,232.00 and $9,650,728.00) appears to be an appropriations amendment for an Attorney General office from another state (formatting and legislative citations differ from the Arkansas statutory text).
- Also included is text from an Illinois HB 1757 amending the Property Tax Code (low‑income senior citizens assessment freeze homestead exemption). These are unrelated to the Arkansas rail tampering statute and appear to be extraneous to the Arkansas bill.
If you want
- I can produce a one‑page plain‑language explainer of the proposed Arkansas offense (including sample scenarios and likely enforcement/practical impacts), or
- Extract and summarize the appropriation/performance language in detail (clarify which state you want), or
- Cleanly separate the three different HB 1757 texts and give separate summaries for each. Which would you prefer?
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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