Bill
HB 1870
Allows sending a federal court’s list of disqualified or potentially disqualified jurors to the Arkansas Secretary of State to verify and remove those individuals from the voter ro
Note on sources and scope
- The materials you supplied appear to mix multiple different HB1870 documents from different jurisdictions (an Arkansas bill about voter registration lists and an Illinois bill about personnel/time‑sheet rules), and some metadata (title about bonds/Winston County) that does not match the body text. The summary below focuses on the Arkansas bill text in the Version Content, which adds a new Arkansas Code section about sharing voter registration information with federal courts. Procedural entries in your record conflict (the top lists the bill as "Died In Committee" while other entries show later amendment/engrossment). Verify final status with official legislative records.
Purpose and intent
- Create an explicit statutory mechanism (new Arkansas Code § 7-1-116) allowing the Secretary of State to provide a voter registration list to a federal court for jury selection purposes — but only when the federal court jury coordinator notifies the Secretary of State of persons identified as ineligible or potentially ineligible jurors.
Key provisions
- Authorization: The Secretary of State may provide voter registration lists to a federal court for juror selection, conditioned on receipt of a notice from the federal court jury coordinator identifying disqualified or potentially disqualified prospective jurors.
- Required contents of the notice/notification:
- A list (the amendment standardizes the term to “notice”) of each person disqualified or potentially disqualified because they are: noncitizens, convicted felons, deceased, nonresidents of the state, or nonresidents of the county.
- For each person: full name; current and prior addresses (if any); telephone number (if available); date of birth; and the reason for disqualification.
- The federal jury coordinator may include supporting documentation of the disqualification.
- Transmission & timing:
- The notice is to be sent according to the federal district court clerk’s jury summons cycle but may be sent more often.
- Acceptable transmission methods: mail, fax, or email.
- Follow-up and voter roll maintenance:
- The Secretary of State must verify whether identified persons are registered voters and ineligible under Arkansas law.
- After verification, the Secretary of State forwards the information to the county clerk where the voter is registered.
- The county clerk then follows procedures under Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 51, §11 to remove the voter from the registration list, if appropriate.
- Drafting edits in Amendment H1: various wording changes (e.g., replacing “list” with “notice,” clarifying “voter but is ineligible to be a voter under Arkansas law,” specifying “federal district court clerk,” etc.) to refine how the notice is described and handled.
Who would be affected
- Secretary of State’s office (new duties to receive, verify, and forward notices).
- Federal district courts and jury coordinators (new reporting/notification process to the State).
- County clerks (receive forwarded information and perform removal procedures).
- Registered voters identified by federal courts as potentially ineligible (may be reviewed and removed from voter rolls).
- Election administrators and privacy/compliance stakeholders (data sharing between federal courts and state election officials).
Potential impacts and considerations
- Could improve identification and removal of ineligible registrants discovered during federal jury selection, helping maintain more accurate voter rolls.
- Raises practical and legal questions about data privacy, accuracy of federal court determinations, verification burdens on the Secretary of State and county clerks, and protections against erroneous removals — the bill requires verification and existing constitutional removal procedures.
- The bill sets administrative mechanisms (formats and frequency) but does not specify expense or staffing; implementation would impose operational costs on the Secretary of State and county clerks.
Procedural status (from supplied records)
- Introduced: January 15, 2025.
- The top metadata lists the bill status as "Died In Committee" (dated 2025-02-26 in your actions list). However, the version content includes Amendment No. 1 and engrossed text dated April 2025. Because the provided materials include conflicting procedural entries (and appear to combine bills from different states), confirm current status with the official Arkansas legislative website or the Secretary of State’s office.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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