The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee will try to persuade state lawmakers to take up legislation during the fiscal session to allow more public-school employees to carry weapons on campus.
But the leaders of both chambers said they plan to focus only on budget matters when the Legislature convenes Feb. 10.
The topic has been discussed by the House and Senate judiciary committees since the summer, and several members have spoken in favor of bringing up the legislation. A two-thirds vote of the House and Senate would be required to introduce nonbudget issues during the fiscal session.
The 2012 fiscal session lasted 19 days. The Legislature met, approved the budget and went home.
In 2014, Gov. Mike Beebe is not asking the Legislature to take up any issues other than the budget, which he will release in mid-January when lawmakers are scheduled to hold a series of hearings, according to his office.
Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux said the fiscal session is not the appropriate time to bring up nonbudget issues, unless a topic is so urgent it can’t wait until the regular session. He said no current topics rise to that level.
“My preference is that we just deal with the budget items,” said Lamoureux, R-Russellville.
House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said through a spokesman that he did not anticipate taking up nonbudget items during the session.
“Unless something material changes, we intend to stick with budget items only,” Carter said.
Since the summer, the House and Senate judiciary committees have held several hearings on whether public-school employees should be eligible for private security guard commissions through the Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies. The commissions would allow some employees to carry firearms on campus.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, said the law should be fixed to clarify that public-school employees can receive private security guard commissions. Hutchinson said it was important to take up the matter as soon as possible so districts could have that security option before another school shooting.
“I don’t think any of us could live with ourselves if something like that happened,” Hutchinson said.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in August issued a nonbinding opinion stating school-district employees could not be commissioned as private security officers and carry weapons under Arkansas Code Annotated 17-140-102.
“The chapter of the Code here at issue authorizes the licensing of private businesses to provide armed security to clients. It does not authorize the licensing of a political subdivision such as a school district, which is neither in itself ‘private’ nor authorized to establish a separate ‘private’ identity. Simply put, the Code in my opinion does not authorize either licensing a school district as a guard company or classifying it as a private business authorized to employ its own teachers as armed guards,” McDaniel wrote.
In September, the board decided to allow the employees of the 13 districts that already have their commissions to retain them through 2015. But the board said it would no longer approve new commissions.
The districts with employees commissioned through the board are Ashdown, Clarksville, Concord, Cutter-Morning Star, Fort Smith, Lake Hamilton, Lee County, Little Rock, Nettleton, Poyen, Pulaski County Special, Texarkana and Wetside Consolidated in Craighead County.
The judiciary committees will meet Jan. 9 to take up the topic again and to hear testimony from Jack Acre, chairman of the private security licensing board who was elected Dec. 11.
Hutchinson said he has not spoken with Lamoureux about taking up the issue but would speak with other members to rally support. He said there is support for addressing the topic before the next regular session.
“I think there will be enough consensus that this won’t take up much time,” Hutchinson said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/21/2013