Committee approves cleanup clarifying enhanced‑carry rights in public buildings

Senators on the City, County & Local Affairs Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 573, a measure Senator Bob Ballinger described as a "cleanup bill" intended to clarify where enhanced‑carry license holders may legally carry in publicly owned facilities. Ballinger told the panel the legislation was meant to restore the legislature’s original intent: that enhanced carriers who completed additional training be allowed in public buildings unless a statute expressly prohibits it.

The bill clarifies that ordinary "no firearms" signs placed by governments should not be used to bar enhanced licensees from publicly owned or operated buildings, while preserving explicit statutory prohibitions. "Courtrooms are specifically prohibited," Ballinger said, and other statutory carve‑outs remain in force, the sponsor added. Mary Claire McLaren, staff attorney for the Arkansas State Police, told the committee the statute’s prohibited‑places provisions (cited in committee discussion) still bar entry into courtrooms, schools and correctional facilities.

The measure drew opposition from municipal and county officials who urged a local‑control exception. Independence County Judge Robert Griffin told senators counties lack the Capitol’s security infrastructure and estimated replicating that screening "would be an unfunded mandate of approaching $2,000,000 a year" for his county. County and municipal law‑enforcement witnesses stressed operational concerns where jails, sheriff’s offices or courtrooms sit in the same building.

Local police leaders also urged caution. Gary Sipes of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police said he was "not opposed to the guns or good folks carrying the guns," but worried about armed people entering police departments and witness or interview rooms, where encounters can become volatile. Municipal League counsel Lanny Richmond said municipalities own a variety of public facilities and would review the bill’s breadth before supporting it.

Ballinger closed by saying the bill merely clarifies the enhanced‑carry statutory scheme and that he was willing to work with local officials going forward. The committee took a voice motion and approved SB 573.

The bill now moves on in the legislative process; committee sponsors said they are open to drafting language to address specific local‑control concerns raised in testimony.