Title 20, Public Health and Welfare

(a) To effectuate the purpose of this subchapter and to make maximum use of existing facilities and personnel, it is the duty of all departments and agencies of the state government and all officers and employees of the state, when requested by the Division of Aging, Adult, and B…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Administrator” refers to the chief administrative officer or executive director of any private or public facility or program designated as a receiving facility or program by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the De…

The circuit courts of this state shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the involuntary commitment procedures initiated pursuant to this subchapter. The circuit judge may conduct hearings pursuant to this subchapter in a receiving facility or program where the person is detained o…

The prosecuting attorney, deputy prosecuting attorneys, the Prosecutor Coordinator, law enforcement officers, governing boards of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services, employees of the division, governing boards of desig…

Nothing in this subchapter shall in any way restrict the right of any person to attempt to secure his or her freedom by a habeas corpus proceeding as provided by current Arkansas law.

(a) To assure compliance with this subchapter, the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services, through its authorized agents, may visit or investigate any receiving facility or program to which persons are admitted or committed un…

Any person who believes himself or herself to be addicted to alcohol or other drugs may apply to the administrator or his or her designee of a receiving facility or program for admission. If the administrator or his or her designee shall be satisfied after examination of the appl…

(a) If at any time the person who has voluntarily admitted himself or herself to a receiving facility or program makes a request to leave, the administrator or his or her designee may file or cause to be filed a petition for involuntary commitment. (b) If the administrator or his…

(a) (1) Treatment staff shall immediately inform the prosecuting attorney of the county where the receiving facility or program is located if, in the opinion of the treatment staff, a person who voluntarily admitted himself or herself meets the criteria for involuntary commitment…

(a) Any person having any reason to believe that a person is homicidal, suicidal, or gravely disabled may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the person alleged to be addicted to alcohol or other drugs resides or is detained and be represent…

(a) Any person filing a petition for involuntary commitment may append thereto a petition for immediate detention. (b) The request for immediate detention shall be verified and shall:(1) State with particularity facts personally known to the affiant which establish reasonable cau…

(1) Every petition for involuntary commitment shall include or contain as an attachment the following statement of rights:(1) That the person has the right to effective assistance of counsel, including the right to a court-appointed attorney;(2) That the person and his or her att…

(a) If it appears to the court that a person sought to be committed is in need of counsel, counsel shall be appointed immediately upon filing of the petition. Whenever legal counsel is appointed by the court, such court shall determine the amount of the fee, if any, to be paid th…

(a) In each case a hearing shall be set by the court within five (5) days, excluding weekends and holidays, of the filing of a petition for involuntary commitment, with a request for continued detention or for involuntary commitment with a request for immediate detention. (b) (1)…

The pleadings in each case shall be deemed to conform to the proof. The court is hereby authorized to enter orders of involuntary commitment pursuant to § 20-47-201 et seq., conforming thereto.

The petition may be filed by the local prosecuting attorney, an attorney representing the petitioner, or pro se. The county shall establish an indigency fund to permit the petitioner to request a court-appointed attorney by filing an affidavit of indigency. The attorney may be al…

(a) An additional forty-five-day commitment order may be requested if in the opinion of the treatment staff a person remains suicidal, homicidal, or gravely disabled. (b) (1) (A) Any request for periods of additional commitment pursuant to this section shall be made by a petition…

(a) At any time during detention, the person may be converted to voluntary status if the person's certified substance abuse counselor files a written statement of consent with the court. The court shall dismiss the petition immediately upon the filing of said statement. (b) If, u…

(a) If any person is released from detention before the expiration of the period of commitment, the court may condition the release upon the person's compliance with outpatient treatment for the time not to exceed the duration of the commitment order and at the receiving facility…

All commitment orders authorized herein shall be considered final and appealable under Rule 2 of the Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure — Civil.

No person admitted voluntarily or committed involuntarily to a receiving facility or program under this subchapter shall be considered incompetent per se by virtue of the admission or commitment.

Any person willfully making false statements on a petition for involuntary commitment, petition for involuntary commitment with request for continued detention, or petition for involuntary commitment with request for immediate detention, or who willfully makes false statements fo…

(a) (1) Any person legally obligated to support a person in treatment from a receiving facility or program shall pay to the receiving facility or program an amount to be fixed by the receiving facility or program as the cost for treatment.(2) The amounts shall be a debt of the ob…

The purpose of this subchapter is to require all persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations holding themselves out to the public as alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs in the State of Arkansas to meet the licensure standards set by the Division of Aging, Adult, an…

(1) An “alcohol and drug abuse treatment program” means a program that renders or offers to render to a person or group of persons any service that assists the person or group to develop an understanding of alcoholism and drug dependency problems and to define goals and plan cour…

(a) (1) The Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services shall adopt rules for the licensure of alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs in Arkansas.(2) All persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations establishing, conduct…

(a) (1) A person who immediately before July 28, 1995, was accredited to establish, conduct, manage, or operate an alcohol and drug abuse treatment program under former § 20-64-901 et seq., shall be issued a license under this subchapter without a fee.(2) The license shall be sub…

(a) Each alcohol and drug abuse treatment program licensure shall be renewed annually upon a payment of a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) by January 30 of each year to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services. (b) If an…

(a) All application fees and accreditation costs will be paid to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services. (b) The division shall transfer the money to the State Treasury, and the money shall be specially designated for tran…

(a) All persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations operating alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs in the State of Arkansas, whether licensed by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services or expressly exempted fr…

(a) The Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Coordinating Council shall have the power and authority to hear appeals regarding decisions by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services not to license an alcohol, drug, or alcohol and …

(a) Any person, partnership, association, or corporation establishing, conducting, managing, or operating any alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug abuse treatment program within the meaning of this subchapter without first obtaining licensure shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeano…

(a) As used in this section, “emergency medication kit” means a kit containing medication that may be required for immediate therapeutic needs of a patient and that is not available from any other source in sufficient time to prevent risk of harm by delay. (b) (1) An alcohol and …

(1) As used in this chapter, unless otherwise specified:(1) (A) “Alternative nicotine product” means a product that consists of or contains nicotine from any source that can be ingested into the body by chewing, smoking, absorbing, dissolving, inhaling, snorting, sniffing, or by …

(a) To ensure that the citizens of this state receive only tobacco products, vapor products, alternative nicotine products, or e-liquid products that are fresh, uncontaminated, unadulterated, and otherwise free of substances that might cause harm to public health and safety, and …

It is a violation of this chapter for any person to use a tobacco product, vapor product, alternative nicotine product, or e-liquid product in or on the grounds of any school, childcare facility, or healthcare facility.

(1) A person may not advertise, market, or offer for sale in this state any tobacco products, vapor products, alternative nicotine products, e-liquid products, or e-liquid containers by using, in the labeling or design of the product, its packaging, or its advertising or marketin…

(a) It is a violation of this chapter for any person to offer for sale in this state or sell to persons located in this state any contaminated or adulterated tobacco product, vapor product, alternative nicotine product, or e-liquid product. (b) A tobacco product, vapor product, a…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) (A) “E-liquid” and “e-liquid product” means a liquid product containing nicotine from any source that is inhaled when using a vapor product, and that may or may not include without limitation propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and flavorings.…

(a) The Director of Arkansas Tobacco Control shall develop and maintain a directory listing all manufacturers that have provided certifications that comply with this subchapter and each vapor product and e-liquid product that is listed in those certifications. (b) The director sh…

(1) A manufacturer shall notify the Director of Arkansas Tobacco Control within thirty (30) days of any material change to the information provided in § 20-65-202, including issuance by the United States Food and Drug Administration of:(1) A marketing granted order issued under 2…

(a) (1) Each certifying manufacturer shall pay an initial fee of five hundred dollars ($500) for each brand family of vapor products or e-liquid products to offset the costs incurred by Arkansas Tobacco Control for processing the certifications and operating the directory under §…

(a) (1) (A) A nonresident manufacturer that is not registered to do business in the state, as a condition precedent to having its name or its vapor products or e-liquid products listed and retained in the directory created under this subchapter, shall appoint and continually enga…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Workforce Experience Opportunities Act of 2025”.

The purpose of this subchapter is to increase employment, income, and self-sufficiency among families by giving recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits more opportunities to comply with work requirements by volunteering at any public entity that receives …

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Accept and accommodate” means allowing an individual to physically enter and remain in the portion of a physical address open to the public when an employee is present for no less than four (4) hours per day and providing access to a bathroom;(…