AN ACT FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS - DIVISION OF COMMUNITY CORRECTION REAPPROPRIATION.
Summary
HB1092 is a fiscal-session reappropriation bill for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, Division of Community Correction. It reauthorizes the remaining balance of a prior capital improvement appropriation from Act 91 of 2025, allowing up to $671,398 to continue to be used beginning July 1, 2026 for maintenance, acquisition, replacement, repair, expansion, construction, equipping, renovation, purchase, improvement, and upgrade of real property and facilities used by the division.
The bill is a standard appropriations measure rather than a policy change. It directs that the funds come from the Community Correction Revolving Fund and includes the usual fiscal controls: spending cannot exceed available Treasury funds, outside grants and donations may supplement the appropriation, and the money may not be diverted from the agency’s general maintenance and operations appropriations. It also incorporates compliance with state purchasing, accounting, budgetary, and revenue stabilization laws, and contains an emergency clause making the act effective July 1, 2026.
Impact
HB1092 extends the life of an existing capital improvement appropriation for the Division of Community Correction, preserving authority to spend unspent balances on facility-related projects. It does not create new programs or change substantive criminal justice law, but it does affect how the Department of Corrections may finance and complete property and facility improvements using special revenue funds. As enacted as Act 113, it keeps the prior appropriation available into the next fiscal period under the state’s budget framework.
Sentiment
The available legislative record suggests broad, routine support for the bill. It passed third reading in the House 97-0 and in the Senate 32-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The lack of committee transcript discussion also suggests it was treated as a noncontroversial budget reappropriation measure.
Contention
No notable opposition appears in the provided record. Because the bill is a reappropriation for capital improvements, any potential concerns would likely center on fiscal oversight, the use of revolving fund balances, or whether the projects remain necessary, but none of those issues are reflected in the votes or transcripts provided. The bill’s unanimous passage indicates no recorded contention among legislators.
To Update And Clarify Certain Portions Of The Law Regarding The Division Of Community Correction And The Division Of Correction; To Clarify References To Community Correction Centers; And To Declare An Emergency.
Concerning The Reports Made To The Governor And The General Assembly By The Board Of Corrections, Division Of Correction, And Division Of Community Correction; And To Combine Reporting Requirements.