# Arkansas SB620: TO PROVIDE A SAFETY VALVE AND APPEAL RIGHT FOR A MINOR DEFENDANT WHO IS ALSO A VICTIM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING; AND TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2013. Arkansas SB620, TO PROVIDE A SAFETY VALVE AND APPEAL RIGHT FOR A MINOR DEFENDANT WHO IS ALSO A VICTIM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING; AND TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2013., is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Howard M. Beaty, Jr. (Republican), Missy Irvin (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-04-23 (Notification that SB620 is now Act 1003) (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB620-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas SB620 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO PROVIDE A SAFETY VALVE AND APPEAL RIGHT FOR A MINOR DEFENDANT WHO IS ALSO A VICTIM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING; AND TO AMEND THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2013. - Status: enacted - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-04-03 - Last action: 2025-04-23, Notification that SB620 is now Act 1003 - Sponsors: Howard M. Beaty, Jr. (Republican), Missy Irvin (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 3 (167 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Legal defense for adult trafficking survivors: benefit, high. Trafficking victims age 18 or older can raise a legal defense to specified criminal charges. These include forgery, defrauding a prospective adoptive parent, prostitution offenses, and obscene performance at a live public show. Covered drug offenses fall under Arkansas Code §5-64-402 and following… - Legal defense for trafficked minors: benefit, high. Trafficking victims age 17 or younger can raise a legal defense to nonviolent criminal charges. Nonviolent means the offense is not a violent crime as defined in Arkansas Code §16-90-1101. The person must have been trafficked when acting, and the conduct must have directly resulted from that traffi… - Stronger protections against forcing minors into crime: benefit, medium. Arkansas treats knowingly recruiting or otherwise obtaining or keeping minors for forced criminal activity as human trafficking. This covers making a minor join or remain in a criminal group or break criminal law. The conduct must involve listed forms of force, threats, serious harm, coercion, or d… - Courts must consider juvenile trauma histories: benefit, low. Courts must consider a young person's background when deciding whether to move a juvenile case to adult criminal court. The same requirement applies when deciding on extended juvenile jurisdiction. Courts must review information about mental, physical, educational, and social history, including har… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Howard M. Beaty, Jr. (Republican), House - Sponsor: Missy Irvin (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-16 | Senate | Senate Vote - Wednesday, April 16, 2025 9:25:34 AM | pass | 35 | 0 | | | 2025-04-15 | House | House Vote - Tuesday, April 15, 2025 3:21:59 PM | pass | 97 | 0 | | | 2025-04-08 | Senate | Senate Vote - Tuesday, April 8, 2025 5:25:29 PM | pass | 35 | 0 | | ## Actions (22) - 2025-04-23: Notification that SB620 is now Act 1003 (Senate) - 2025-04-16: DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR. (Senate) - 2025-04-16: Reported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor. (Senate) - 2025-04-16: ORDERED ENROLLED (Senate) - 2025-04-16: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-16: Rules suspended. (Senate) - 2025-04-16: House Amendment No. 1 read first time, rule suspended, read second time and concurred in. (Senate) - 2025-04-16: Placed on second reading for purpose of amendment. (Senate) - 2025-04-15: Returned from the House as passed as amended # 1 . (Senate) - 2025-04-15: Returned to Senate as passed, as amended # 1 (House) - 2025-04-15: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-04-14: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-04-14: Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-04-14: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-04-10: Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1 (House) - 2025-04-08: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on JUDICIARY COMMITTEE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-04-08: RECEIVED FROM THE SENATE (House) - 2025-04-08: Ordered immediately transmitted to the House. (Senate) - 2025-04-08: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass (Senate) - 2025-04-03: Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE (Senate) - 2025-04-03: Filed (Senate) ## Bill text - SB620 - Introduced, 2025-04-03: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB620.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=1003.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [SB620 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FSB620.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=1003.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB620-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).