All Roll Calls
Yes: 131 • No: 0
ArkansasHB18352025 Regular SessionHouseWALLET
CONCERNING SPECIALTY COURT PROGRAMS; AND TO UPDATE AND CLARIFY THE LAW CONCERNING DRUG COURT, MENTAL HEALTH COURT, VETERANS COURT, AND DWI/BWI SPECIALTY COURT PROGRAMS.
Sponsored By: Carol Dalby (Republican), Tyler Dees (Republican)
Enacted
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
12 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 3 costs, 5 mixed.
Shared path to clearing court records
The law replaces separate mental health court and pre-adjudication probation dismissal-and-sealing provisions with a shared specialty court process. After successful completion, the prosecutor must recommend dismissal and sealing, and the judge must approve after reviewing criminal history. Sealing can happen immediately, without a cap on prior felony convictions; drug court records also come under statewide sealing procedures. DWI/BWI dismissal and sealing must wait until the statutory lookback period ends. For another court’s conviction, participants must finish its sentence, and both courts must sign uniform sealing orders. Participants with cases dismissed through this process can petition for relief from firearm restrictions.
Guilty plea required before court judgment
To qualify for pre-adjudication specialty court status, a person must face a filed charge and be arraigned in circuit court. They must enter the program by pleading guilty before the court enters judgment or gives a sentence. Entering without a guilty plea no longer qualifies.
Fewer state commitments for drug courts
The Division of Community Correction no longer has the listed duties to arrange intensive outpatient and short- or long-term inpatient treatment. The law also removes its contracted counseling arrangements, including the 30-participant caseload limit and prior funding agreement process. The state courts office no longer must cover extra local drug court operating costs, such as supplies, education, and travel. These changes remove specific state commitments, but do not ban other treatment or funding options.
Juvenile drug courts limited to delinquency
Juvenile drug court programs and services remain authorized for delinquency cases. The law removes this authorization for dependency-neglect and family-in-need-of-services cases. It also removes the Department of Human Services’ listed counseling, staffing, testing, and treatment duties for those case types. Delinquency programs have a minimum of one drug counselor per 30 participants. These service duties depend on available appropriations, funding, and approved positions.
County transfers come with local rules
The law replaces the former judge-transfer procedure with county transfers requiring the receiving judge’s consent and both judges’ written order. The receiving court applies its program rules and can order treatment or sanctions, including jail. The original court keeps the case and collects offense-related fines and costs; the receiving court collects program fees and costs. No new case opens for the same charge, and the original case stays open until completion notice or an appropriate court order. Circuit-court programs can transfer only to circuit-court programs, and DWI/BWI programs only to DWI/BWI programs.
Court fees have caps and safeguards
Courts can assess a specialty court user fee up to $250, paid into the state Specialty Court Program Fund. Pre-adjudication participants represented by public defenders can also face a separate fee up to $250, credited to public defender funding. Fee coverage lists pre-adjudication probation, drug, Swift and Certain Accountability, DWI/BWI, mental health, veterans, juvenile drug, and family treatment programs. It drops the catch-all category and listings for HOPE court, smarter sentencing court, and mental health crisis intervention centers. A circuit court cannot assess or collect program fees when its specialty court lacks required Supreme Court approval.
Courts follow shared standards and reviews
Specialty court evaluations must reflect nationally recognized, peer-reviewed standards, with committee rules approved by the Supreme Court. Programs established on or after April 1, 2015 receive evaluations after two funded years. Programs existing on April 1, 2015 had to be evaluated before spending fiscal year 2017 resources. Every program receives another evaluation at least every two years. Drug court goals must follow national standards, replacing the prior ten-component list and specific federal and professional references. Each judicial circuit must create a drug court policies and procedures manual.
Drug courts gain programs and staffing
Each judicial circuit can establish multiple drug court programs, but does not have to create additional programs. The law removes the prior drug-court-specific approval requirement; the general Supreme Court administrative-plan approval rule remains. Approved adult programs must have at least one counselor per 30 participants, one probation officer per 40, and one administrative assistant per program. They must provide drug testing as needed, and judges can no longer waive the minimum counselor position. Staffing and testing depend on appropriations, funding, and approved positions.
More flexibility for court service contracts
The state courts office can hire or contract with attorneys to serve on specialty court teams or represent participants. The law removes the prior limits on attorney categories. Qualified treatment providers can serve on a court team or treat participants, without having to do both. The office can keep attorney-service and treatment-provider funds left on June 30 and distribute them after July 1. That money can support court operations and participant recovery services, not just new or expanded programs.
Mental health courts update operating rules
The mental illness definition no longer fixes diagnostic criteria to the manual edition dated January 1, 2017. A condition must still substantially limit one or more major life activities. A district judge can run a mental health specialty court when no circuit judge can do so consistently. Each judicial circuit must create a training and implementation manual, with help from state agencies and mental health experts.
Named specialty courts need state approval
Circuit and district specialty courts must receive Supreme Court approval through their court’s administrative plan. Evaluation and approval rules name pre-adjudication probation, drug, Swift and Certain Accountability, mental health, veterans, juvenile drug, HOPE, DWI/BWI, and family treatment programs. Family treatment court replaces domestic violence court in this list. The law removes the catch-all category for other Supreme Court-approved programs.
State coordinates courts and requires reporting
A Specialty Court Programs Division and coordinator replace the state’s drug-court-only division and coordinator. The coordinator supports the advisory committee, connects agencies and providers, maintains drug court information, and trains judges and staff. Every court running a specialty program must use the state courts office’s case-management system for applicant and participant information. Programs must also provide information requested by the advisory committee or the specialty court division.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Carol Dalby
Republican • House
Tyler Dees
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 4/9/2025
Senate Vote - Wednesday, April 9, 2025 8:38:15 PM
Yes: 33 • No: 0 • Other: 1
House vote • 3/31/2025
House Vote - Monday, March 31, 2025 2:30:08 PM
Yes: 98 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Notification that HB1835 is now Act 691
4/16/2025HouseCorrectly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
4/10/2025HouseTO BE ENROLLED
4/10/2025HouseReturned from the Senate as passed.
4/10/2025HouseReturned to the House as passed.
4/9/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/9/2025SenateReturned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass
4/7/2025SenateRead first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE
3/31/2025SenateReceived from the House.
3/31/2025SenateRead the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.
3/31/2025HouseReturned by the Committee Do Pass
3/20/2025HouseRead the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE
3/18/2025HouseFiled
3/18/2025House
Bill Text
HB1835 - Introduced
3/18/2025
Act Version
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