The voter-passed constitutional amendment that extended term limits in the state Legislature will not "restart the clock" for past service, according to an attorney general's opinion released Tuesday.
Amendment 94, approved as Issue 3 by voters on Nov. 4, extended a cumulative limit of 16 years of service in either the state House, Senate or a combination of both.
Before that, Amendment 73, set in 1993, capped lawmakers at three two-year terms in the state House and two four-year terms in the state Senate.
Some people raised questions about whether the new amendment would reset the years served by legislators in the past and start over with the passage of Amendment 94.
That reading of the amendment is wrong, according to the Arkansas attorney general's office, which advised that legislators with years served after the passage of the state's first term-limit amendment in 1993 would count toward the 16-year total set by the new amendment.
Shorter, two-year terms for state senators that are the result of reapportionment will not count toward the 16-year cap, according to the opinion.
The advisory opinion also said that time served after a special election will also not count.
Metro on 01/07/2015