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Committee flags polygraph requirement in registry-reassessment bill, schedules follow-up
Summary
Senate Bill 206 (amended) passed its amendment but drew sustained opposition over a provision requiring a polygraph as part of reassessments for offenders seeking removal from the registry. Defense attorneys warned that mandated polygraphs would introduce inadmissible evidence into court filings; prosecutors say the test is a tool used in assessments and judges retain discretion.
Senate Bill 206, presented in the Senate Judiciary Committee as a measure to create procedural standards for reassessing an offender's eligibility to terminate registration obligations, prompted extended debate after the bill's reassessment subsection was amended to require a polygraph exam as part of the reassessment process.
Defense witnesses from the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers strongly opposed the "shall include a polygraph test" language. Jeff Rosenzweig told the committee that requiring a statutorily mandated polygraph that will be transmitted to a court risks creating a literal contradiction with existing evidentiary rules; "polygraph results are inadmissible,"…
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