Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H1/27/25
2 95th General Assembly
A Bill
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1194
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5 By: Representative Cavenaugh
6 By: Senator B. Johnson
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8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT
10 OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS IN
11 RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION OF THE INTEGRATION OF
12 HOXIE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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14
15 Subtitle
16 TO AMEND ARKANSAS LAW CONCERNING THE
17 PLACEMENT OF A MONUMENT ON THE STATE
18 CAPITOL GROUNDS IN RECOGNITION AND
19 APPRECIATION OF THE INTEGRATION OF HOXIE
20 PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
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22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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24 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. FINDINGS AND LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a) The
25 General Assembly finds that:
26 (1) The first court battle to implement the decision in Brown v.
27 Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was fought in the town of Hoxie,
28 Arkansas, which sparked the first federal support of integration after the
29 decision in Brown, supra, and the first court order overturning state
30 segregation laws;
31 (2) In the summer of 1955, the Hoxie School Board voluntarily
32 desegregated its schools and fully integrated all school facilities;
33 (3) The newly formed White Citizens' Council saw the integration
34 as a test for southern resistance to the decision in Brown, supra, and
35 descended on Hoxie with efforts to force the Hoxie School Board to rescind
36 its desegregation;
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1 (4) Despite these efforts, the Hoxie superintendent and the
2 Hoxie School Board stood their ground;
3 (5) With the help of the National Association for the
4 Advancement of Colored People, the Hoxie School Board sought an injunction
5 against segregationist groups, eventually drawing the United States
6 Government's support in a case that nullified state segregation laws;
7 (6) Segregationist leaders were so furious over their loss in
8 the case that they turned on Governor Orval Faubus in the next primary,
9 forcing him out of his previously moderate stance and setting up the 1957
10 confrontation at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas;
11 (7) Life Magazine chronicled the Hoxie integration, which was
12 viewed as a success despite students, the families of students, and school
13 administrators experiencing dynamic challenges during this historic and
14 transformative time; and
15 (8) The first court battle for school desegregation in Hoxie
16 changed the face of Arkansas public schools.
17 (b) It is the intent of this act to place a monument on the State
18 Capitol grounds in recognition and appreciation of the historic integration
19 of Hoxie public schools in 1955.
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21 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 19-5-1125(e)(2), concerning the Arkansas
22 Capitol Grounds Monument and Memorial Preservation Fund, is amended to read
23 as follows:
24 (2) Before the expenditure of any moneys from the Arkansas
25 Capitol Grounds Monument and Memorial Preservation Fund for the maintenance,
26 repair, alteration, addition, reconstruction, or upkeep of any kind for a
27 specific monument or memorial areas on State Capitol grounds, if there is a
28 fund dedicated to that specific monument or memorial, the Secretary of State
29 shall utilize the gifts, grants, and donations made to the following funds
30 for the maintenance, repair, alteration, addition, reconstruction, or upkeep
31 of that specific monument or memorial:
32 (A) Vietnam Veterans' Veterans Monument Fund;
33 (B) Arkansas Military War Veterans Monument Fund;
34 (C) Ten Commandments Monument Display Act under � 22-3-
35 221;
36 (D) Gold Star Family Memorial Monument Fund; and
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As Engrossed: H1/27/25 HB1194
1 (E) Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial Board under �
2 22-3-1704; and
3 (F) Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Fund.
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5 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code Title 19, Chapter 5, Subchapter 11, is
6 amended to add an additional section to read as follows:
7 19-5-1160. Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Fund.
8 (a) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the
9 Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a trust fund to
10 be known as the "Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Fund".
11 (b) The fund shall consist of gifts, grants, and donations from
12 individuals and organizations as provided under the Hoxie: The First Stand
13 Memorial Monument Act, � 22-3-224, and other funds as may be provided by law.
14 (c) The fund shall be used exclusively for the purpose of erecting and
15 maintaining a suitable monument on the State Capitol grounds in recognition
16 and appreciation of the integration of Hoxie public schools in 1955, as
17 provided in the Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Act, � 22-3-224.
18
19 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code Title 22, Chapter 3, Subchapter 2, is amended
20 to add an additional section to read as follows:
21 22-3-224. Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Act.
22 (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Hoxie: The
23 First Stand Memorial Monument Act".
24 (b)(1) The Secretary of State shall permit and arrange for the
25 placement on the State Capitol grounds of a monument commemorating the
26 integration of Hoxie public schools in 1955.
27 (2) The monument shall be placed on the State Capitol grounds
28 where there are other monuments.
29 (3)(A) The monument shall be designed and constructed in the
30 manner recommended by Hoxie the First Stand Inc., or in a manner similar to
31 the design recommended by Hoxie the First Stand Inc.
32 (B) The Secretary of State shall approve the design and
33 site selection for the monument through consultation with the Capitol Arts
34 and Grounds Commission.
35 (c) The Secretary of State may accept gifts, grants, and donations
36 from individuals and organizations to be deposited as trust funds into the
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1 Hoxie: The First Stand Memorial Monument Fund.
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