When does Arkansas legislation passed in a special session take effect if there's no emergency clause or specified effective date?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 2014. Ezel answers yours: what it means for your facts, under current Arkansas law, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Secretary of State Mark Martin needed to know when legislation from the Second Extraordinary Session of the Eighty-Ninth Arkansas General Assembly would take effect. The session adjourned sine die on July 2, 2014. Some of its acts had no emergency clause and no specified effective date.
AG Dustin McDaniel applied the standard Arkansas rule: acts of the General Assembly with no emergency clause or specified effective date become effective ninety days after adjournment of the session at which they were enacted. The rule is anchored in Fulkerson v. Refunding Board, 201 Ark. 957 (1941) and ultimately derives from Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution, which gives the people "ninety days after the final adjournment of the session" to file referendum petitions. The acts cannot take effect until that referendum window has closed.
The counting mechanic: the day of adjournment is not counted (it's not a full day during which petitions can be filed). Start counting full days the day after adjournment. The acts become effective on the ninety-first calendar day.
Applied to the Second Extraordinary Session:
- Adjournment: July 2, 2014 (Wednesday)
- First full day: July 3
- 90 full days later: through September 30
- Effective date: October 1, 2014 (day 91)
The opinion is short, but the rule it confirms is one of the most regularly applied in Arkansas statutory practice. Every regular session and every special session generates a wave of acts whose effective dates depend on whether an emergency clause is present and, if not, on the 90-day-after-adjournment rule. Agencies, regulated parties, and lawyers tracking new statutes need a reliable method to compute the date.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2014. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Common questions
Why 90 days and not 30, or "immediately upon enactment"?
Because Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution gives Arkansas voters 90 days after final adjournment to file a referendum petition challenging a new act. Until that window closes, the act cannot take legal effect without short-circuiting the people's right to referendum. The 90-day delay is built into the constitutional architecture, not invented by the legislature.
What is an "emergency clause" and how does it change the timing?
An emergency clause is a legislative finding that an act addresses a present and serious emergency requiring immediate effect. Acts with an emergency clause take effect immediately on the governor's signature (or sooner, if the legislature so provides). The General Assembly typically uses emergency clauses for time-sensitive measures (appropriations effective at start of fiscal year, public-safety responses).
What if the legislature specifies a different effective date?
The specified date controls. Many acts say "this act is effective January 1, [next year]" or "this act is effective July 1, [next fiscal year]." The 90-day default applies only when both the emergency clause and a specified effective date are absent.
How do you count the 90 days?
The day of adjournment is not counted (per Fulkerson). Start counting from the day after adjournment. Day 90 is the last day of the referendum window. The act becomes effective on day 91.
What was the Second Extraordinary Session of the Eighty-Ninth General Assembly?
A special session called to address specific topics outlined in the governor's call. The session opened in late June 2014 and adjourned sine die on July 2, 2014. Acts from special sessions follow the same effective-date rules as acts from regular sessions.
Why did the Secretary of State need an opinion on this?
Because the Secretary's office is responsible for publishing acts and tracking when they take effect. With 2014-078 in hand, Secretary Martin had a concrete answer (October 1, 2014) he could use in administrative tracking and in answering questions from the public, regulated parties, and other officials.
Background and statutory framework
The 90-day default effective date for acts of the General Assembly is constitutional in origin, not statutory. Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution (the Initiative and Referendum Amendment) gives Arkansas voters the right to file a referendum petition against any general act of the General Assembly within 90 days after final adjournment of the session that passed the act.
Fulkerson v. Refunding Board, 201 Ark. 957, 147 S.W.2d 980 (1941), held that acts without an emergency clause cannot take effect until that 90-day referendum window has closed. The day of adjournment is not counted because it is not a full day during which petitions may be filed.
The Eighty-Ninth Arkansas General Assembly held a regular session, a fiscal session, and two special/extraordinary sessions. The Second Extraordinary Session adjourned sine die on July 2, 2014. Acts from that session with no emergency clause and no specified effective date became effective October 1, 2014.
Citations
- Ark. Const. amend. 7 (90-day referendum-petition window)
- Fulkerson v. Refunding Board, 201 Ark. 957, 147 S.W.2d 980 (1941) (90-day-after-adjournment effective date rule)
Source
Original opinion text
Opinion No. 2014-078
July 25, 2014
The Honorable Mark Martin
Secretary of State
State Capitol, Room 256
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201-1094
Dear Mr. Martin:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on the effective date of legislation passed during the Second Extraordinary Session of the Eighty-Ninth Arkansas General Assembly. Your request pertains to legislation that did not carry an emergency clause or a specified effective date.
Acts of the General Assembly with no emergency clause or specified effective date become effective ninety days after adjournment of the session at which they were enacted. Fulkerson v. Refunding Board, 201 Ark. 957, 147 S.W.2d 980 (1941). This rule stems from Amendment 7 to the Constitution of Arkansas, which gives the people "ninety days after the final adjournment of the session" to file referendum petitions. The day of adjournment is not counted, as it is not a full day during which petitions may be filed.
Your request indicates that the General Assembly adjourned sine die on July 2, 2014. Starting with the first full day after adjournment, and counting ninety full days, acts with no emergency clause or specified effective date become effective on the ninety-first day, which in this case is October 1, 2014.
Deputy Attorney General Elisabeth A. Walker prepared the foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve.
DM/EAW:cyh
Get today's answer for your situation
You just read a 2014 opinion on this question. Ezel checks the current Arkansas statutes and case law and answers your specific situation, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the law it relies on.