Citizen effort to repeal state’s sovereign immunity protection submitted

With an unlikely probability of gaining legislative referral in the 2019 session, attorney Alex Gray – one of the leaders of the successful casino amendment in 2018 – is seeking approval to collect signatures for a 2020 ballot initiative to allow citizens to sue state government.

Gray sent a shortly-worded proposed constitutional amendment to Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Wednesday (March 6). The measure says, “The State of Arkansas may be made a defendant in any of her courts.”

The amendment would alter the current phrasing of the Arkansas Constitution Article 5, Section 20 which states, “the State of Arkansas shall never be made a defendant in any of her courts.”

In January 2018, the Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, dismissed a case against the state declaring that the state of Arkansas could not be made a defendant in state courts.

Gray says a remedy needs to be provided.

“The proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas v. Andrews,” Gray tells Talk Business & Politics. “The General Assembly has not prioritized addressing the issue this session — so the people must do so. Under this amendment, sovereign immunity would be abolished and the government would be responsible for its actions in a court of law, just as private citizens and companies are.”

Rutledge must approve the ballot title in order for signatures to be collected in an effort to get the measure on the 2020 general election ballot. Supporters would need to collect 89,151 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.