Arkansas SJR 6: A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PERMITTING THE STATE OF ARKANSAS TO BE SUED AS A DEFENDANT IN STATE COURT TO ENFORCE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OR AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW.

Bill Text

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to the Arkansas
Constitution.
*MBM085* 02/07/2023 03:05:12 PM MBM085

State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly 2
Regular Session, 2023 SJR 6 3
4
By: Senator A. Clark 5
6
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 7
AN AMENDMENT TO ARKANSAS CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 5, § 8
20, PERMITTING THE STATE OF ARKANSAS TO BE SUED AS A 9
DEFENDANT IN STATE COURT TO ENFORCE CONSTITUTIONAL 10
RIGHTS OR AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW. 11
12
13
Subtitle 14
A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PERMITTING THE 15
STATE OF ARKANSAS TO BE SUED AS A 16
DEFENDANT IN STATE COURT TO ENFORCE 17
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OR AS OTHERWISE 18
PROVIDED BY LAW. 19
20
21
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 22
STATE OF ARKANSAS, AND BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, A MAJORITY OF ALL 23
MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE AGREEING THERETO: 24
25
THAT the following is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of 26
the State of Arkansas, and upon being submitted to the electors of the state 27
for approval or rejection at the next general election for Representatives 28
and Senators, if a majority of the electors voting thereon at the election 29
adopt the amendment, the amendment shall become a part of the Constitution of 30
the State of Arkansas, to wit: 31
32
SECTION 1. Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 20, is amended to read 33
as follows: 34
§ 20. State not made defendant When the State may be made a defendant. 35
(a) The Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the 36

SJR6

2 02/07/2023 03:05:12 PM MBM085

State of Arkansas shall never be made defendant in any of her courts. 1
(b) The State of Arkansas may be made a defendant in any of her courts 2
if the legal action against the State of Arkansas: 3
(1) Asserts that the State of Arkansas has violated the United 4
States Constitution or the Arkansas Constitution, including without 5
limitation a legal action seeking injunctive, declaratory, or monetary 6
relief; or 7
(2) Is authorized by Arkansas law. 8
(c) As used in this section, "State of Arkansas" means every 9
department, division, office, board, commission, institution, or other public 10
entity of the State of Arkansas, including without limitation state-supported 11
institutions of higher education. 12
13
SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This amendment is effective on and after 14
November 6, 2024. 15
16
SECTION 3. BALLOT TITLE AND POPULAR NAME. When this proposed 17
amendment is submitted to the electors of this state on the general election 18
ballot: 19
(1) The title of this Joint Resolution shall be the ballot 20
title; and 21
(2) The popular name shall be "A Constitutional Amendment 22
Permitting the State of Arkansas to be Sued as a Defendant in State Court to 23
Enforce Constitutional Rights or as Otherwise Provided by Law." 24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36