Stories by Sean Beherec
RSS$225,000 given to estate of officer killed on duty
The Arkansas State Claims Commission awarded $225,000 Friday to the estate of a Conway police officer who was struck and killed by a driver while directing traffic at the scene of a crash. Continue reading...
2 judges reprimanded after admitting to improper conduct
Carroll County Circuit Judge Gerald Crow did not demonstrate “appropriate judicial behavior” when he performed independent investigations on cases and retaliated against attorneys, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission said Friday. Continue reading...
Justices favor retrial in ’11 killing
A Pulaski County man who was convicted of killing his grandfather should receive a new trial because the jury instructions were flawed, the Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday. Continue reading...
Lottery has immunity, lawyer for state says
State justices hear trademark case
The Arkansas Lottery Commission is entitled to sovereign immunity and is protected from a lawsuit brought by a company claiming trademark infringement in the commission’s advertising, an assistant attorney general told the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday. Continue reading...
Courtroom TV show fails to get green light
For the second time in three years, state ethics officials have emphatically rejected a proposed courtroom “reality TV” show. Continue reading...
State lawmakers pass 15 bills aimed at guns
As several states considered gun restrictions this year in the wake of mass shootings, such as that in Newtown, Conn., Arkansas’ 89th General Assembly passed 15 bills aimed at easing licensing, carrying and possession laws for firearms. Continue reading...
State legislators pass 61% of bills filed in session
The 89th General Assembly approved 1,520 of the 2,492 bills filed during the 100-day legislative session, or 61 percent. Continue reading...
State high court says resentence two serving life
No-parole for minors tossed
In the first of a possible 56 such cases, the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered resentencing hearings for two men serving life terms without parole for crimes they committed as minors. Continue reading...
Justices: Ex-state worker is due pay
After reporting waste, he got ax
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of a former state employee who said he was fired because he reported the illegal use of federal funds. Continue reading...
Lawmakers wrap up, head home
The Republican-controlled state House and Senate on Tuesday completed action on bills increasing the state general-revenue budget by $197 million in the fiscal year that starts in July and distributing more than $300 million in surplus funds to various programs and projects. Continue reading...
Rep. Bell stirs up hornet’s nest
Boston gun comment on Twitter raises ire of thousands
It took 132 characters and a send button for Republican state Rep. Nate Bell to rile thousands across the nation Friday, sparking a furious online backlash that had Bell backtracking by midday. Continue reading...
Cutoff for Planned Parenthood stalls in House panel
A bill barring state grants to entities that perform abortions or make abortion referrals failed to clear an Arkansas House committee Wednesday. Continue reading...
Private-option redo gets key bill to Beebe
Altered enabling measures need new votes
The Senate voted 28-7 late Wednesday night to approve using hundreds of millions of federal dollars to purchase private health insurance for 250,000 low-income Arkansans, after a day of waiting and amendments. Continue reading...
Tax-cut bills quickly clear House votes
Student funding, judge pay, traffic cameras also tackled
The state House of Representatives on Tuesday handily approved bills cutting the state’s top income-tax rate, taxes on capital gains and the sales tax charged on energy used by manufacturers, after an appropriation measure to allow the use of federal dollars to purchase health insurance for 250,000 low-income Arkansans cleared the chamber. Continue reading...
Senate balks at ballot measure
It adds charter-amending steps
The Arkansas Senate balked Friday at referring to voters a proposed constitutional amendment to make it harder for citizens to place measures on Arkansas ballots but supported placing on the 2014 ballot an amendment to require legislative approval of state-agency rules and regulations. Continue reading...
Challenge new execution law in lower court, justices tell 6 condemned
The six death-row inmates who successfully challenged the state’s old death-penalty statute must take their challenge of the new death-penalty statute to a lower court before a higher court hears it, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Continue reading...
Senate favors ending Planned Parenthood grants
The state Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill aimed at barring state agencies from providing grants to Planned Parenthood, and another measure creating nonpartisan elections for prosecuting attorneys. Continue reading...
House votes yes on bonds for steel mill
The state House of Representatives voted 78-17 Monday in favor of a bill authorizing the state to issue $125 million in bonds for a proposed $1.1 billion Big River Steel mill in Mississippi County. Continue reading...
Senate backs slash to jobless benefits
Governor sent bill to rein in feral hogs
A bill that sharply reduces unemployment benefits narrowly cleared the Arkansas Senate on Monday after a measure requiring applicants for and recipients of unemployment benefits to consent to random drug tests sailed through the chamber. Continue reading...
Milk bill on list legislators OK
Saturday’s session a mixed bag
The sale of unpasteurized whole milk would become legal in Arkansas under legislation that cleared the state House of Representatives in a rare Saturday session. Continue reading...
Panels OK bills on tax cut, milk
Grocery-levy step tied to drop in bond, desegregation costs
A bill linking a cut in the state’s sales tax on groceries to a reduction in the state’s bond obligations or desegregation payments passed one House committee Friday, and another bill allowing sales of locally produced unpasteurized whole milk advanced in another. Continue reading...
Tax cuts on energy sales, capital gains advance
Revamped bills cutting the state’s capital-gains taxes and the state’s sales tax on energy used by manufacturers cleared the Arkansas House tax committee Thursday. Continue reading...
Panel OKs bill to tie drug test to jobless aid
But proposal to lop benefit stalls in Senate committee
A bill requiring recipients of unemployment benefits to consent to random drug tests cleared an Arkansas Senate committee Wednesday, but a measure sharply reducing the maximum weekly unemployment amount failed to clear the committee. Continue reading...
Voter-ID veto is overturned
In 52-45 vote, lawmakers nullify third Beebe decision
The House of Representatives voted 52-45 Monday to overturn Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill requiring voters to provide photo identification at polling sites. Continue reading...
Legislative leaders back steel-mill deal
Arkansas House and Senate leaders Thursday signaled their support for legislation authorizing the state to issue $125 million in bonds for Big River Steel’s proposed $1.1 billion steel mill near Osceola, which its developers say will create 525 full-time jobs with annual average pay of about $75,000. Continue reading...
Bucking veto, Senate votes for photo IDs
Override bid on requisite at the polls goes to House
In a party-line vote, the Arkansas Senate voted to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of legislation requiring people to provide photo identification to vote. Continue reading...
Dismissed for fighting waste, ex-panel chief’s lawsuit claims
The former executive director of the Arkansas Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council has filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming she was fired in retaliation for identifying wasteful spending. Continue reading...
Voter ID legislation gets governor’s veto
Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed legislation Monday that would require voters to present photo identification before casting their ballot, calling Senate Bill 2 an “expensive solution in search of a problem” that “is not supported by any demonstrated need.” Continue reading...
School Choice Act’s redo can’t clear panel
It would have purged race restrictions
The House Education Committee voted down a bill that would rewrite the state’s School Choice Act of 1989, a law that was recently ruled unconstitutional. Continue reading...
Proposed tax cuts expected in days
Legislators seen near agreement
Legislative leaders said Wednesday that they are days away from publicly identifying tax cuts they hope to make this year. Continue reading...
Talks with Beebe focus on taxes, Medicaid
LITTLE ROCK — Cutting taxes and expanding health care to the poor may go hand in hand this session, legislative leaders and the governor said Tuesday. Continue reading...
Lottery Recoups More Than $100,000 From IRS
The Arkansas lottery will recoup more than $100,000 in fines and interest it paid to the Internal Revenue Service for missing tax deadlines in 2010. Continue reading...
Senator appeals 50%-vote ruling on voter-ID bill
A Democratic state senator on Monday appealed Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr’s ruling that a voter-ID bill only required a majority vote in the House and Senate for approval. The lawmaker’s objection delayed action, for at least a day, of Senate Bill 2, which requires Arkansas voters to produce photo identification before casting a ballot. Continue reading...
Unpasteurized-milk bill fails to get out of House committee
The House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee spent nearly two hours Friday debating House Bill 1536, which would allow the sale of unpasteurized milk at Arkansas farms. Continue reading...
Panel signs one death award, delays one
The Joint Budget Committee signed off Thursday on one wrongful death award, but delayed action on a second family’s claim so that a committee member can learn more about the case. Continue reading...
State justices deny bid to delay death-penalty trial
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected a Drew County man’s request for more time to prepare for his death-penalty trial. Continue reading...
Rise in timberland tax and a break on farm energy clear House panel
LITTLE ROCK — A House tax committee approved a tax exemption Thursday for energy used in agriculture, moments before voting to raise the tax on timberland to pay for firefighting equipment. Continue reading...
Photo-ID requirement to vote passes House
The state House of Representatives voted 51-44 in favor of a bill that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. Continue reading...
Lift Execution Stay, Attorney General Asks
New Law Resolves Matter, State Supreme Court Told
The attorney general’s office has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to lift a stay on the executions of six death-row inmates, arguing that the issue that led to a halt in executions in the state has been resolved. Continue reading...
Voter-ID bill needs 2/3 tally, lawmaker says
Send back to Senate, he says
A bill requiring Arkansans to provide photo identification to vote should be sent back to the Senate because it failed to get the two-thirds vote in the Senate required by the Arkansas Constitution, a Democratic state lawmaker said Monday. But the bill’s Republican sponsor said he disagreed because legislative attorneys told him that the bill required only a majority vote to clear the Senate. Continue reading...
Lawyer License For Felon Gets OK
The Arkansas Supreme Court will allow an attorney who surrendered his license after two felony drug convictions to be readmitted to the state bar. Continue reading...
Proposal Factors In Disparity Of Bills
Elliott Seeks Look At Effects On Races
State Sen. Joyce Elliott and members of the Legislative Black Caucus are working to draft legislation that would require lawmakers to consider certain bills’ cost to members of minority groups, not just to taxpayers’ pocketbooks. Continue reading...
Gun-fee cut shot down in House
State police harm seen as side effect
The state House of Representatives voted against a bill that would have reduced the license fees for concealed-handgun applicants after questions arose about the effect of the legislation on the Arkansas State Police. Continue reading...
2011 goal-post death settled
State will pay $375,000 to family of crushed boy, 9
The state Department of Human Services has settled a claim brought by the family of a 9-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a soccer goal post. Continue reading...
Senators spike veto of 2nd abortion ban
Override on 12-week limit goes to House
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Senate voted Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill to ban most abortions after 12 weeks of gestation. The House of Representatives will vote today on whether to override the veto, the House sponsor of the legislation said. In other legislative business, a bill to cap the growth of state general revenue spending failed to clear the state House of Representatives, and a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage failed to clear a House committee. Continue reading...
Beebe inks bills on lottery scholarship redo, guns
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe signed House Bill 1295 into law as Act 234 on Friday, which will restructure the lottery scholarship program after more students than expected received the scholarship and lottery revenue fell short of projections. Continue reading...
Defense argues for more time
Justices hear pitch to stay murder trial
A Drew County man on trial on a capital murder charge in the death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter should be given more time to prepare his defense, his attorney told the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday. Continue reading...
First Marshallese translator sworn in
Springdale woman called ‘indispensable’
Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Hannah swore in three state court interpreters on Thursday, including the first certified Marshallese interpreter in the country. Continue reading...
Abortion-ban veto trumped in House vote
Senate weighing in today on bid to override Beebe
LITTLE ROCK — With two Democrats and all 51 Republicans, the House of Representatives overrode on Wednesday the governor’s veto of a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks. The Senate will vote on the bill today, the Senate’s leader said. Continue reading...
Carter asks panel to plot $150 million in tax cuts
Beebe doubts budget can absorb GOP proposal
LITTLE ROCK — House Speaker Davy Carter on Tuesday asked the House Revenue and Taxation Committee to start work on tax cuts totaling $150 million, but Gov. Mike Beebe wants to see how his proposed budget would be sliced to finance these tax cuts. Continue reading...
