LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Multiple Arkansas laws go into effect on Aug. 5 now that the legislature has been formally adjourned for 90 days.
These new laws are impacting Arkansans in a number of areas, including law for drivers, educators and students, prosecutors and voters.
For drivers, several laws impact how to drive near Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) crews, including those doing mobile work. ARDOT has invested in a number of tools recently to make highway cleanup more efficient, and with it comes laws for mobile crews driving on shoulders. Now, the “fines double in work zones” rule also applies to these mobile work zones.
New Arkansas traffic safety laws take effect August 5
Drivers should also expect to see more flashing green lights, indicating ARDOT equipment. New drivers will also read about work zone safety with additions to the state driver’s manual.
Students will no longer be able to use their cell phones while classes are underway, thanks to the Bell-to-Bell No Cell Act of 2025. That act, which Gov. Sanders pushed for, was based on her concerns about student mental health. Sanders said at the time she was impacted by the bestseller “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt and its assertion that social media delivered via a smartphone screen is affecting children’s mental well-being.
New Arkansas laws to know ahead of the first day of school
Also, schools will now teach gun safety. As a means to discourage bullying, locker and dressing rooms in schools will now have audio recording devices. Schools also now have laws as to when a member of an athletic staff can enter the locker room of the opposite gender.
Prosecutors now have a charge of capital rape available when a victim is 13 years old or younger. Also, it is now a crime in Arkansas to create artificial-intelligence-created images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or the so-called “deepfakes,” fake look-real videos, that depict adult activity.
Arkansas Death Row inmates sue to block nitrogen gas executions
A change to the capital sentence law adds nitrogen hypoxia as a permitted manner of execution, but changes “death by lethal injection” to “death,” alongside other changes. A challenge was filed against this law on Tuesday, the same day it went into effect.
Changes to the organ donation Arkansas law are prevented from going into effect on Tuesday after a judge placed a temporary injunction on the change pending a full court hearing.
Another law going into effect has been placed under a temporary injunction for four communities, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale and Siloam Springs, based upon a filing in the Western District of Arkansas federal court.
Arkansas attorney general said he will ‘vigorously defend’ changes to state’s organ donations law
Changes to the ballot referendum process, already being challenged in court, now require signature canvassers to read the ballot title out loud. Restrictions also place limits on who can be a canvasser.
This is a non-exhaustive list. Other laws passed during the 95th General Assembly can be found on the Arkansas Legislature website.
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