HB 1603 Arkansas House · 2025 Regular Session

TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS BY A CRIMINAL DEFENDANT IN CIRCUIT COURT.

HB 1603 changes how court payments from criminal defendants are allocated in Arkansas circuit courts. It requires that installment payments first cover court costs, then restitution, and finally fines, as specified in the law. This directly affects defendants paying court fees in installments, ensuring costs and restitution are prioritized before fines. The bill also allows existing local payment methods adopted before 2017 to remain in effect until repealed by local governments. The law became Act 365 on March 20, 2025.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Mar 2025

Introduced Feb 26, 2025 Signed Mar 20, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Act 365 → HB 1603 · 2 edits

MINOR

This bill converts Act 365 into House Bill 1603 with minor formatting adjustments and removes a provision that would have allowed local governments to retain alternative installment payment allocation methods adopted before January 1, 2017. The change means local courts must now follow the standard state law allocation for criminal defendant payments rather than maintaining older local variations.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on installment payment allocation for criminal defendants in circuit court, but the removal of the grandfather clause for pre-2017 local legislation narrows the applicability of local alternative payment methods.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted language that would have allowed municipal or county governments to keep alternative installment payment allocation methods adopted before January 1, 2017, requiring all local courts to follow current state law allocation rules.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill title from 'Act 365' to 'HB 1603' and adjusted formatting of section headers and spacing throughout the document.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 20, 2025

Signed into law

Notification that HB1603 is now Act 365

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned from the Senate as passed.

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned to the House as passed.

upper

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read the third time and passed.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass

upper

Mar 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned by the Committee Do Pass

lower

Feb 26, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors