AN ACT FOR THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1031 is the annual appropriation act for the Arkansas Office of Attorney General for fiscal year 2026-2027. It sets the agency’s authorized staffing levels, salary caps, and operating budgets for the main office and several specialized units, including the Medicaid Fraud Division (state and federal components), the Internet Crimes Against Children program, and the Cooperative Disability Investigation Program. The bill also authorizes extra-help positions and provides funding for salaries, benefits, travel, professional fees, capital outlay, and other operating expenses.
In addition to the core appropriations, the bill includes special language allowing the Attorney General, with required fiscal review, to transfer appropriations among operations line items and to move certain unobligated settlement or court-order funds into the State Central Services Fund. It also includes standard compliance language tying spending to state fiscal controls and an emergency clause making the act effective July 1, 2026 so the office can continue operating without interruption.
HB1031 does not create new substantive criminal or civil law; instead, it authorizes spending authority and staffing for the Attorney General’s office under Arkansas appropriations law. It affects the Office of Attorney General, the Medicaid Fraud Division, and federally supported enforcement and investigative programs by setting maximum employee counts and funding levels, and it directs how certain cash and settlement funds may be used or transferred. The act becomes Act 38 and governs the agency’s budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
The available record suggests the bill was routine and broadly noncontroversial. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes showing opposition, and the measure advanced through the budget process to become Act 38. As an annual appropriation bill, it appears to have been treated as a standard funding measure necessary to keep the Attorney General’s office and related enforcement programs operating.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The only provisions that could draw scrutiny are the special language authorizing transfers among line items and the deposit or transfer of unobligated settlement-related funds to the State Central Services Fund, since those provisions affect budget flexibility and the handling of cash funds. However, no recorded objections, amendments, or debate are included in the available context.