Committee narrows which level‑3 registered offenders may attend ticketed school events

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance House Bill 1023, which changes who may attend ticketed, school‑sponsored events when a person is a level‑3 registered offender, panel members and witnesses said.

The bill moves the consanguinity cutoff from fourth degree to second degree for level‑3 offenders at ticketed events, a change sponsor and school‑board representatives said would make monitoring guests more manageable for administrators. "This law would restrict from 4 back to 2 and also include great grandparents as amended in the House Committee," said Dan Jordan of the Arkansas School Boards Association, explaining the change applies to ticketed school‑sponsored events such as graduations and some sports activities.

Committee members pressed for evidence of incidents motivating the change and questioned whether narrowing kinship tiers would materially change enforcement. The sponsor said the intent is to reduce the size of the group administrators must track—particularly in small towns where broader kinship definitions can cover a large share of the community—but acknowledged enforcement relies on existing notice and law‑enforcement response when an offender appears without required notice.

Under current practice, the panel heard, level‑3 offenders may attend when the school is given 24‑hour notice; level‑4 offenders are already barred from events. The bill adds exceptions: great‑grandparents and persons who are students in the Division of Youth Services program may be treated differently, the sponsor said.

The sponsor closed, moved a do‑pass recommendation, and the committee advanced the bill on a voice vote. The transcript does not show a roll‑call tally.