Votes at a glance: committee advances several local-government bills; property-rights, tax-collection and municipal-attorney measures pass

The House City, County & Local Affairs Committee advanced several bills on Tuesday, approving multiple measures by voice vote and granting one sponsor time to amend a contentious public-safety proposal.

House Bill 71272 (abandoned streets and alleys): Representative Lehi Warren, District 84, said the bill would make clear that when a city abandons a street or alley, the adjoining property owners’ title to the applicable portion of that abandoned street or alley automatically follows the conveyance of the adjoining property. The sponsor said the change is retroactive to 1945 to help clear title where conveyances omitted the vested portion. The committee voted "do pass" by voice vote; the transcript records the chair saying "Ayes have it. Congratulations, you passed your first bill."

House Bill 1274 (real-property closings and delinquent personal-property tax payments): The bill would require a tax collector to provide a written statement of delinquent taxes within three business days when requested by a settlement agent; if the collector fails to provide the statement within that timeframe, the tax collector must accept the real-property tax payment without payment of delinquent personal-property taxes. The Arkansas Land Title Association worked with county tax-collection groups on the proposal. The committee voted "do pass" by voice vote.

Senate Bill 270 (election timing): Representative Jeremy Oldridge (presenting for Senator Crowell) said the bill adds a statutory election start time of noon where an end time already exists. The committee voted "do pass" by voice vote.

House Bill 1618 (municipal attorney appointment and contracting): Representative R.J. Hogg and John Wilkerson of the Arkansas Municipal League presented clarifying language to make appointment and contracting rules consistent for cities under 50,000 population and for corporate towns that are not required to have a city attorney. The committee voted "do pass" by voice vote.

Senate Bill 254 (rural community grant matching): Representative Steinle said the bill would allow in-kind contributions such as skilled labor, materials or real/personal property to count toward the local 50 percent match for the rural community grant program. The sponsor noted more than $600,000 was paid out in fiscal 2024 under the program and sought the committee's approval; the bill passed by voice vote.

House Bill 1711 (municipal port authority police): Representative Steve Unger asked to pull the bill to draft geographic-limits language after members questioned jurisdictional and oversight issues; the committee granted the request.

Votes recorded in the transcript were voice votes; no roll-call tallies were recorded for the items listed above.