Senate committee adopts amendment and advances title-security bill requiring ID on deed filings, with clerks to keep licenses under seal

Senators advanced SB406 on a voice vote after adopting an amendment that narrows what identification information is recorded and clarifies who must present ID when real‑property instruments are filed.

Senator Clark, the bill sponsor, said the measure is intended to reduce “seller impersonation fraud,” in which someone forges a deed and attempts to transfer property they do not own. Clark told the committee the bill had been amended several times to address questions that arose when the measure was previously considered, including who counts as a grantor where the owner is a trust, LLC or corporation.

The amendment adopted in committee specifies that the person named as the grantor must be the one whose identification is collected; the sponsor described that as encompassing trustees, members of LLCs, corporate officers and attorneys‑in‑fact acting under a power of attorney. The amendment also removes language that would have made parts of a driver’s license public; instead, driver’s licenses provided to circuit clerks will be maintained “under seal” and not become part of the recorded deed.

Circuit clerks and title‑industry representatives who testified in support described the bill as a first step to deter property fraud. Micah Bono Sample, identified in committee as representing the Celine County Circuit Clerk’s Office and the Circuit Clerk Association, said the requirement to collect identification “gives us a starting place” to investigate fraudulent filings. Kyle Sylvester, Washington County Circuit Clerk and legislative chair for the Arkansas Circuit Clerk Association, said the bill “will give us a head start on trying to identify those bad actors.”

Paul Hayes, a private citizen who testified for the original, earlier version of the legislation, told the committee he favors a stronger “freeze” approach in which a homeowner could pay a fee and require that any transfer be signed in person at the clerk’s office. Hayes said making and retaining a copy of a driver’s license “may give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but it doesn't prevent diddly squat” and urged the committee to return to the original, stricter language.

Senators asked about enforcement and state resources. Committee members and witnesses discussed property‑fraud alert tools some circuit clerks have implemented, efforts to detect fraudulent notary stamps, and that the Attorney General’s office does not currently have a dedicated cybercrime unit focused on property fraud issues. The sponsor and witnesses said additional legislation and software pilots by some clerks will be needed over multiple sessions to further reduce fraud.

The committee adopted the amendment and then passed SB406 as amended on a voice vote. The record in committee shows adoption of the amendment, followed by passage of the bill as amended; the vote was taken by voice and no roll‑call tally was recorded in the hearing transcript.

SB406 was discussed at length in committee, drawing multiple witnesses from circuit clerks, the land title association and at least one private citizen calling for broader protections.

The bill will move on for further consideration by the Senate. Supporters said the measure is an incremental but necessary step to make fraudulent recordings easier to investigate; opponents and some witnesses urged more‑robust, proactive “freeze” options that would prevent transfers without in‑person clerk verification.