AN ACT FOR THE COMMISSIONER OF STATE LANDS APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2026-2027 FISCAL YEAR.
HB1045 is an annual appropriation bill for the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. It sets the agency’s authorized staffing levels, salary ranges, and maximum number of employees, including regular positions and up to five extra-help employees, and provides funding for personal services and operating expenses.
The bill also appropriates money for the Commissioner’s delinquent tax functions, including operating expenses, professional fees, refund and recording fee reimbursements, and remittals or sale refunds associated with the sale or redemption of tax-delinquent land. In addition, it includes separate appropriations for capital outlay/operating expenses and for submerged lands projects, and it contains standard compliance, legislative intent, and emergency provisions so the act takes effect on July 1, 2026.
HB1045 primarily affects the Office of the Commissioner of State Lands by authorizing spending authority and staffing for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. It does not change substantive property-tax or land-title law, but it does fund the agency’s administration of tax-delinquent land sales, redemption processes, submerged lands work, and related reimbursements under existing Arkansas Code provisions, including Chapter 37 of Title 26 and fiscal-control statutes.
The available record suggests the bill was routine and noncontroversial. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes indicating opposition, and the bill advanced to become Act 46. As an appropriation measure, it appears to have been treated as a standard budget bill necessary to keep the agency operating.
No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided materials. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes, there is no evidence of debate over staffing levels, salary caps, the size of the delinquent-tax appropriation, or the submerged lands funding. Any potential concerns would likely have centered on budget size or allocation priorities, but none are documented here.