Senate committee weighs bill to statutorily name Petit Jean visitor center for Dr. T.W. Hardison; agency says rules now in place

Senate Bill 8, introduced by Sen. Mark Johnson, would statutorily name the new Petit Jean State Park visitor center for Dr. T. W. Hardison. Johnson told the committee the measure responds to local constituents and preserves a community’s historical recognition after the prior Hardison Hall was demolished.

Johnson recounted a September 2019 public meeting with more than 100 attendees who urged restoring Dr. Hardison’s name on the new facility. He said Act 225 of 2013 restricts naming public structures for current salaried officials unless they are deceased or meet retirement‑age exceptions; the bill contains no appropriation and would secure the name by statute.

Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and Leslie Fiskin, the department’s chief of legislative affairs, told the committee the department investigated the prior 2015 commission action that had named the facility for Richard Davies and found it inconsistent with state law. The department said it then researched naming practices at other public entities, drafted rules with public notice and commission review, and submitted the rules to the legislature; Hurst said the commission had since made the recommended nomination and that the naming could be completed within two to three weeks with a planned early‑March dedication.

Lawmakers asked whether future commissions or executives could reverse names and whether the department’s rulemaking would give the legislature an adequate role. Witnesses said the adopted rules require public nominations (with supporting signatures) or a commissioner nomination with a second, a public hearing, commission approval and consultation between the secretary and the governor; they acknowledged the Administrative Procedures Act allows the agency to amend rules but said they could add legislative consultation language if desired.

Committee members expressed support for protecting historical names but also raised concerns about locking a name in statute and about the potential for future reversal by different officeholders. After discussion, a motion to table SB8 was made and carried; the committee will take further action later. The department asked the committee to allow its completed rule process to proceed to implement transparent naming procedures.

The hearing clarified the legal constraint that the commission’s 2015 naming action was deemed inconsistent with state law, and it recorded both the community advocacy for naming and the department’s effort to create a codified public process for future nominations.