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.
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1 State of Arkansas A Bill
2 95th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 521
4
5 By: Senator B. Davis
6 By: Representative Unger
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8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT
10 TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT; TO EXTEND THE TIME PERIOD
11 AFTER COMPLETION OF TRAINING FOR WHICH REIMBURSEMENT
12 IS REQUIRED; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
13
14
15 Subtitle
16 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LAW
17 ENFORCEMENT TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT; AND
18 TO EXTEND THE TIME PERIOD AFTER
19 COMPLETION OF TRAINING FOR WHICH
20 REIMBURSEMENT IS REQUIRED.
21
22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
23
24 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code � 12-9-209 is amended to read as follows:
25 12-9-209. Reimbursement for training costs or expenses.
26 (a)(1) If a county, city, town, or state agency law enforcement agency
27 pays the costs or expenses for training a law enforcement officer at a state-
28 funded or municipally operated law enforcement training academy and another
29 county, city, town, or state agency law enforcement agency employs that law
30 enforcement officer within eighteen (18) twenty-four (24) months after
31 completion of the training in a position requiring a certificate of training
32 from a state-funded or municipally operated law enforcement training academy,
33 the county, city, town, or state agency law enforcement agency that employs
34 the law enforcement officer, at the time of employing the law enforcement
35 officer, shall reimburse the county, city, town, or state agency law
36 enforcement agency for all or a portion of the costs or expenses incurred by
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SB521
1 the county, city, town, or state agency law enforcement agency for the
2 training of the law enforcement officer at the state-funded or municipally
3 operated law enforcement training academy, unless the law enforcement officer
4 has been terminated by the county, city, town, or state agency law
5 enforcement agency that paid the costs or expenses of training, in which case
6 no reimbursement is required from the county, city, town, or state agency law
7 enforcement agency employing the law enforcement officer.
8 (2) Reimbursement may be sought only from the first county,
9 city, town, or state agency by each successive law enforcement agency that
10 employed the law enforcement officer after the county, city, town, or state
11 agency first law enforcement agency paid the costs or expenses of training
12 within the twenty-four-month period after the date of the law enforcement
13 officer's completion of training.
14 (3) Reimbursement shall include any salary, travel expenses,
15 food, lodging, or other costs, including nonrecoverable equipment costs,
16 required to be paid by the county, city, town, or state agency, law
17 enforcement agency as follows:
18 (A) If the law enforcement officer is employed within two
19 (2) twelve (12) months after completion of the training, the employing law
20 enforcement agency shall reimburse the total of the costs or expenses of
21 training; or
22 (B) If the law enforcement officer is employed more than
23 two (2) twelve (12) months but not more than six (6) twenty-four (24) months
24 after completion of the training, the employing law enforcement agency shall
25 reimburse eighty percent (80%) fifty percent (50%) of the costs or expenses
26 of training;
27 (C) If the law enforcement officer is employed more than
28 six (6) months but not more than ten (10) months after completion of the
29 training, the employing agency shall reimburse sixty percent (60%) of the
30 costs or expenses of training;
31 (D) If the law enforcement officer is employed more than
32 ten (10) months but not more than fourteen (14) months after completion of
33 the training, the employing agency shall reimburse forty percent (40%) of the
34 costs or expenses of training; or
35 (E) If the law enforcement officer is employed more than
36 fourteen (14) months but not more than eighteen (18) months after completion
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1 of the training, the employing agency shall reimburse twenty percent (20%) of
2 the costs or expenses of training.
3 (b)(1) A request for reimbursement shall:
4 (A) Be in writing;
5 (B) Contain an itemized list of costs to be reimbursed;
6 and
7 (C) Be made by the original employing law enforcement
8 agency to the subsequent employing law enforcement agency within six (6)
9 months of the date on which the law enforcement officer was hired by the
10 subsequent law enforcement agency.
11 (2) If any county, city, town, or state agency law enforcement
12 agency that employs a law enforcement officer whose costs or expenses of
13 training were paid by another county, city, town, or state agency law
14 enforcement agency fails to make reimbursement for the costs or expenses of
15 training as required in subsection (a) of this section, the county, city,
16 town, or state agency law enforcement agency entitled to reimbursement shall
17 notify the Treasurer of State.
18 (2)(3) The Treasurer of State shall then withhold the amount of
19 the reimbursement due for training the law enforcement officer from the
20 county or municipal aid of the employing county, city, town, or state agency
21 law enforcement agency or from funds appropriated to the employing state
22 agency and shall remit the amount to the county, city, town, or state agency
23 law enforcement agency that is entitled to the reimbursement under the
24 provisions of this section.
25 (c)(1) A private community with a population of more than five
26 thousand (5,000) persons that employs certified law enforcement officers is
27 entitled to reimbursement under this section and may remit the reimbursed
28 costs or expenses under subsection (a) of this section to an entity
29 contracting with the private community that paid the training costs or
30 expenses of the certified law enforcement officers.
31 (d) A law enforcement agency that employs on a permanent basis a law
32 enforcement officer who has completed training at a state-funded or
33 municipally-operated law enforcement training academy shall comply with this
34 section.
35 (2)(e) As used in this subsection, section:
36 (1) "Law enforcement agency" means the same as defined in � 12-
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1 9-102; and
2 (2) "private Private community" means the same as defined in �
3 14-14-814.
4
5 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 12-9-602(a)(1), concerning the employment
6 or appointment, or separation from employment or appointment of a law
7 enforcement officer, is amended to read as follows:
8 (a)(1)(A) An employing law enforcement agency shall immediately notify
9 the Division of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, in a manner adopted
10 by the division, of the employment or appointment, or separation from
11 employment or appointment, of any law enforcement officer.
12 (B) Upon notification by an employing law enforcement
13 agency of employment or appointment of any law enforcement officer, if the
14 law enforcement officer completed required training from a state-funded or
15 municipally-operated law enforcement training academy within the last twenty-
16 four (24) months, the division shall notify the previous employing law
17 enforcement agency that paid the costs or expenses for training the law
18 enforcement officer.
19
20 SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This act is effective on and after January
21 1, 2026.
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4 03/19/2025 1:29:39 PM CEB123Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.