Committee advances bill to move statewide child abduction response team to Arkansas State Police

Representative Shad Pierce, sponsor of House Bill 1887, told the House Aging Children Youth Legislative Affairs Committee the bill would move the statewide Child Abduction Response Team, commonly called CART, into the Arkansas State Police.

"All we're really wanting to do ... is to move it into the state police," Representative Shad Pierce (District 40) said while introducing the measure. Pierce said the state police had agreed to host CART and that shifting the program would make it easier to monitor activation and maintain participation.

Colonel Mike Hager of the Department of Public Safety, who described himself as "secretary of department of public safety and director of state police," told the committee CART's original certification process had created barriers for local agencies.

"In a nutshell, this is 1 of those things that we have to get right. We can't obviously, the consequences are too significant to not get right," Colonel Hager said. He described a certification model tied to the Criminal Justice Institute that, he said, deterred local participation because individual officers were required to complete training outside their discipline.

Committee witnesses, including Chief Deputy Jason Tubbs of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and Gary Sipes of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police, testified in favor of the bill, saying local agencies supported the proposed change.

Pierce and Hager said the bill would replace the current CART memorandum of understanding with a stakeholder-level MOU that requires decision-makers in local agencies to authorize resource use when the state is asked to assist. Hager and Pierce said the state police would serve as an assisting agency that brings specialized resources — forensic cell-phone examiners, aircraft crews, or groups of detectives — to local investigations when requested.

The committee adopted a motion to give House Bill 1887 a "do pass" recommendation. The vote was taken by voice; the motion carried and the bill was advanced.

Why it matters: Sponsors said the change aims to increase participation by removing training and certification obstacles for local agencies while preserving local control over investigations. The measure would place the CART structure under the Arkansas State Police and change how participating agencies are certified and authorized to provide assets.

What remains unclear: The bill text that was discussed modifies the MOU and certification process but committee discussion did not include detailed implementation dates or specific new training standards; sponsors said those details would be developed with stakeholders and CLEST (Commission on Law Enforcement Standards).