The Regular Session of the 93rd General Assembly convenes at noon today at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. The Arkansas State Legislature is comprised of 135 members — 35 legislators from the Arkansas Senate and 100 lawmakers from the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Legislators from both chambers began filing bills Nov. 12, 2020. The goal of one bill is to establish a state hate crime law. Arkansas is one of three states without such legislation. Another bill calls on public schools to include certain Arkansas Civil Rights leaders in their African American History teaching materials.
If approved by the legislature, the Law Enforcement Integrity Act of 2021 would establish the Law Enforcement Integrity Unit of the Division of Arkansas State Police, as well as create a hotline to report and a searchable database to contain the names of law enforcement officers who commit abuses of power or violate a person’s civil rights.
The Arkansas House and Senate both livestream their sessions. A schedule of the Arkansas Legislature’s meetings can be found at www.arkleg.state.ar.us. Below is a look at the composition of this year’s legislative body and how things have changed following last year’s elections.
