Capitol Notebook: Second Rehoming Bill Filed, Lottery Bill Stumbles In Senate

A second bill involving the controversial issue of rehoming children was filed Thursday as a legislator accused of the practice faced reporters.

The bill Thursday was from Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway.

Questions have arisen this week after a report from The Arkansas Times involving Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork.

An Arkansas State Police investigation showed that Harris’ adopted child was placed into the care of another home and the child was later sexually abused by someone at the home, content partner KATV reported Wednesday.

“Documents from an Arkansas State Police investigation, obtained by Channel 7 News show that two children ‘had been adopted by Marsha and Justin Harris through the Department of Human Services’ and placed the girls into the care of Eric Francis and his wife, Stacy Francis, in Oct. 2013,” the report from Elicia Dover noted. “The report stating, ‘It was later reported to the Department of Human Services that Mr. and Mrs. Harris had left the children with another family and basically abandoned them.”

Eric Francis was later convicted of sexually assaulting of the children at the home and is serving a 40-year prison sentence in the case.

Harris has not been arrested or charged with anything in connection with the ASP report, officials have said. Harris was mum about the controversy Wednesday. However, reporters confronted the lawmaker Thursday at the state capitol.

He said he would talk with Ch. 7, but never did.

“I will talk to y’all after session… I will talk to y’all. I will talk to y’all,” Harris said.

UPDATE: Attorney Jennifer Wells says on her Facebook page that her client, Rep. Justin Harris, will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. on Friday “to explain his side” of the story. The post says the location for the press conference is “TBD.”

Wells provided Talk Business & Politics with this statement attributable to Rep. Harris and his wife:

“Rep. Harris and Mrs. Harris have suffered a severe injustice. Due to threats of possible abandonment charges, they were unable to reach out to DHS for help with children who presented a serious risk of harm to other children in their home. Upon the advice of both a psychiatrist and a pediatrician, they were forced to move the children to the home of trusted friends, who had a lot of experience with children with reactive attachment disorder. Rep. and Mrs. Harris are devastated about the outcome of that decision, but faced with no good option, they did the best that they knew how.”

Wells said at the press conference on Friday, the location of which is still being discussed, there would be a statement released and a chance to ask questions.

REHOMING BILL FILED
A representative from Conway became the second lawmaker in as many days to file a bill to prohibit the practice of “rehoming” children.

Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, filed House Bill 1676 Thursday. The measure defines a relative as “a person within the fifth degree of consanguinity by virtue of blood or adoption.”

“A person commits the offense of re-homing of a minor if he or she knowingly engages in a transaction or an action taken to facilitate a transaction through electronic means or otherwise by a parent, an individual or an entity having custody of a minor that is taken without court approval and except as provided … to avoid permanent parental responsibility by placing the minor in the physical custody of another person or entity,” the bill read.

However, the bill would not apply to a “person who places a minor with a relative, step-parent, an agency licensed under the Child Welfare Licensing Act, a licensed attorney or the Department of Human Services; placement of a minor by a licensed attorney, an agency licensed under the Child Welfare Agency Licensing Act, a licensed attorney or the Department of Human Services.”

A temporary placement of a child with another person due to vacation, school activities, going to jail, military service, receiving medical treatment and the person or guardian being incapacitated or a parent voluntarily giving up custody is also exempt under the bill.

A person found guilty of “rehoming” a child under Meeks’ bill could face a felony charge, with no more than five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville filed House Bill 1648 Wednesday. That bill, with many of the features in Meeks’ bill, would prohibit the private transfers of adopted children except to relatives.

“Unless a court of competent jurisdiction orders the transfer, a person shall not transfer custody of a child for the purpose of permanently transferring physical custody of the child to a person who is not a relative of the child, send a child out of this state or bring a child into this state for the purpose of permanently transferring physical custody of the child to a person who is not the relative of the child; or cause a child to be sent out of this state or brought into this state for the purpose of permanently transferring physical custody of the child to a person who is not a relative of the child,” Leding’s bill notes.

A person found guilty of the crime, under Leding’s bill, would face a Class D felony for the first offense, a Class C felony for the second offense and a Class B felony for a third or subsequent offense.

LOTTERY BILL FAILS
The Senate voted 17-9 Thursday – one vote shy of a majority – against Senate Bill 5.

The bill would have set a minimum 19 ACT score in order for students to receive the state’s Academic Challenge Scholarship, Talk Business & Politics reported this week.

Under the bill, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Hickey Jr., R-Texarkana, freshmen students would have received reduced scholarship money from $2,000 to $1,000 for four-year schools while sophomores would have gotten $4,000, up from the current $3,000.

The scholarship is funded through proceeds from the Arkansas Lottery.

After the vote failed, Hickey asked Senate leaders to expunge the vote. The expunging typically means that the lawmaker will bring up the bill again.

The Senate also voted Thursday to approve a bill requiring communications carriers to cooperate with a criminal investigation.

The 32-1 vote was on House Bill 1315, sponsored by Rep. Rebecca Petty, R-Rogers and Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. The House voted 70-8 Friday to send the bill to the upper chamber.

Petty told the House Friday that the bill was needed to help law enforcement locate people who are missing or worse.

“Upon request of a law enforcement agency, a commercial mobile radio service provider shall provide location information of a wireless telecommunications device to the law enforcement agency in order to respond to a call for emergency services or in an emergency situation that involves the risk or death or serious physical harm,” according to the bill.

However, opponents have said the bill would strip away constitutional protections.

HIGHWAY FUNDING BILL WITHDRAWN
Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville said Thursday that he pulled a highway funding bill from consideration by the legislature.

The bill – House Bill 1346 – would have set aside money from the sale of new and used cars, along with car parts, with the money going toward highway funding.

A large majority of the funding (70%) would have gone to highway funding, with the rest going to cities and counties.

Douglas said Thursday he met this week with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state agency heads about the issue.

Douglas told Talk Business & Politics that he received an assurance that a working group would be created by the end of the session to look at the issue.

The group would take a look at the issue, including funding concerns, and make a recommendation for the future, Douglas said. Douglas said he believes that Hutchinson and his staff will be “highly involved” in the process.

Hutchinson said late Thursday that the issue is important, both financially and with people.

“I met with Rep. Douglas and expressed to him my appreciation for his work on a new highway funding formula. I made the case that now is not the right time for making significant adjustments in our balanced budget,” Hutchinson said. “But I do understand the importance of this issue, and I have committed to forming and leading a governor’s working group that will include all the key parties in an effort to build a consensus on highway funding for our future.”

FRIDAY SCHEDULE
The following committee meetings are scheduled for Friday in the Arkansas General Assembly:

House Committees
10:00 a.m. – Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs, Room 130.
10:00 a.m. – Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development, Room 138.
10:00 a.m. – Insurance and Commerce, Room 149.
10:00 a.m. – State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, Room 151.
1 Hour after Adjournment – State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, Room 151.

The House will convene at 11 a.m. Friday.

The Senate will not meet again until Monday.