Hundreds of New Laws Took Effect Recently

Posted on August 4th, 2009

Hundreds of new laws took effect recently, on the 91st day following formal adjournment of the 87th General Assembly., including a tougher law to punish those who torture animals. They’re among 1,501 pieces of successful legislation signed into law, most of which were bills for appropriations.

Starting July 31, young people who drive personal watercraft will face fines ranging from $50 to $100 if they fail to have an adult next to them. It’s named “Rachel’s Law,” in memory of a 15-year-old girl who died in a watercraft accident two years ago, and is now Act 693.

Act 693 raises from 14 to 16 the legal minimum age for operating a personal watercraft without an adult supervising. A child between ages 12 and 15 would be permitted to operate the watercraft but only if accompanied by someone older than 18 – and that person, if born after January 1, 1986, must have completed a boating safety course. A child under age 12 can operate the watercraft if accompanied by an adult at least 21 who has completed a boating safety course.

The new law also requires anyone who operates a personal watercraft to submit to drug- and blood-alcohol-content tests if they’re involved in a watercraft crash resulting in death or if a lawn enforcement officer believes the watercraft operator is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Other new laws:

• Arkansas’s first felony offense against cruelty to animals, previously only a misdemeanor regardless of the circumstances. A felony charge can be filed against someone who tortures a dog, cat, or horse, even on a first-time offense. It’s now Act 33. The law also exempts standard agriculture and animal-husbandry practices such as branding; allows for incidents arising from self-defense or defense of others, protecting livestock and poultry, lawful veterinary purposes, Good Samaritan acts for animals in distress, legitimate animal research, euthanizing animals, and humanely killing sick animals. Conviction can result in up to six years in prison (5 additional years if the offense is conducted in the presence of a child) and a fine of up to $10,000.
  
• Act 781 allows the state Athletic Commission to regulate all combat sports, such as “tough man” contests, in Arkansas, including tighter requirements on the presence of physicians and emergency responders. It was approved in the wake of a death in Texarkana of a man who’d been in a fighting contests.
  
• Act 329, to ban the sale of novelty lighters – or those often shaped like cell phones, animals or even fire trucks – because they are enticing to children. The bill was filed in the wake of the deaths of several children, the casualties of house fire started when one of the children was playing with a novelty lighter.
  
• Act 497 names a stretch of U.S. 67 in Northeast Arkansas as the “Rock ‘n Roll Highway,” because such legendary performers as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash regularly played at clubs along the highway in Jackson, Lawrence and Randolph counties.

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