Constitution of Arkansas

The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention held at Little Rock in advance of the territory's admission to the Union in 1836. In 1861 a constitution was adopted with secession. After the American Civil War its 1864 constitution was drafted. An 1868 constitution was passed to comply with the Reconstruction acts. The current constitution was ratified in 1874 following the Brooks–Baxter War.
The Brooks–Baxter War and passage of the new constitution are considered to mark the end of Reconstruction in Arkansas. This was two years before the disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election and national compromise that resulted in the Republican government withdrawing federal troops from the South. The state has passed numerous amendments to the 1874 Constitution – 102 as of 2020.
By gaining passage of the Election Law of 1891 and a poll tax amendment in the general election of 1892, the Democratic Party consolidated its control of state politics over Republicans and a farmer-labor coalition; effectively disenfranchising most African Americans. By 1895 there were none in the state house; their exclusion from politics lasted for decades deep into the 20th century.

Current Constitution

Preamble

We, the People of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government; for our civil and religious liberty; and desiring to perpetuate its blessings, and secure the same to our selves and posterity; do ordain and establish this Constitution.

Article I

This article establishes the boundaries of Arkansas as running from the Mississippi river on the east to the Oklahoma and Texas borders on the west, and bound by Missouri in the north and Louisiana in the south. This article also defines the seat of government as being in Little Rock.

Article II

For the most part, this article affirms the same limits to the State Government that are similarly constrained by the US Constitution to the Government of the United States.

Article III

Article 3 mandates that all elections shall be fair and equal. No person shall be denied the right to vote. Any resident citizen over the age of 18 may register and vote. Electors are exempt from arrest while they are traveling to and from elections. Soldiers may not vote on the basis of being stationed in Arkansas: they must establish residency through other means.

Article IV

This article states that there will be 3 branches of government, legislative, judicial, and executive.

Article V

Article 5 provides for the operations of the Arkansas General Assembly. It requires the Assembly to meet biennially and limits these meetings to 60 days unless otherwise approved by two-thirds of both houses. Section 4 sets the qualifications for members. Amendment 86 allows for biennial fiscal sessions in even-numbered years; these sessions are limited to legislative deliberation regarding the state budget, though other issues may be brought before the houses via approval of a two-thirds vote of the membership.
Section 1 allows for passage of laws or constitutional amendments by initiative. Petitions require signatures equal to eight percent of registered voters to appear on the ballot for a law, or ten percent for a constitutional amendment. Section 1 also allows, by six percent of voters placing a petition, for a statewide referendum on any law or any part of a law. The petition must be filed no later than 90 days after final adjournment of the Assembly. The law is suspended until it is voted on in the next election; if part of a law, the portion subject to referendum is suspended while all other provisions remain in effect.
It also includes highly restrictive provisions regarding appropriations:

Section 30 requires that the "general appropriations bill" be limited to the "ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments of the State". All other appropriations must be passed by special appropriations bills. However, each bill can embrace only one subject; thus, hundreds of bills must be passed to fund other State agencies.
Section 38 requires, in order to raise "property, excise, privilege or personal taxes... now levied", either 1) approval of the voters or 2) a three-fourths majority of the legislature. However, since Arkansas' sales tax was added after passage of the Section, it does not fall under the "now levied" provision, and thus can be increased by a simple majority.
Section 39 places restrictions on funding. Except for "educational purposes, highway purposes, to pay Confederate pensions and the just debts of the State", no appropriations exceeding $2.5 million can be passed without a three-fourths majority. In recent years, this means that nearly every appropriation bill requires such.
Section 40 further requires that the general appropriations bill must be passed before any special appropriations bill can be passed. Otherwise, no appropriations are valid.

An example of how the restrictions can wreak havoc took place in 1989, when the general appropriations bill failed to gain the required three-fourths majority, but was "declared passed" by the General Assembly under the "just debts of the State" exemption, and all subsequent special appropriations bills were passed thereafter. However, the Arkansas Supreme Court disagreed with the Assembly's use of the just debts provision. As a result, it declared every single appropriations bill of the session unconstitutional—the general bill did not receive the votes needed to pass under Section 39, and under Section 40 all other appropriations bills were invalid since the general bill must be passed first—requiring the Assembly to return in special session to reenact them.
Appropriations do not constitute the state budget in Arkansas; that is enacted near the end of the session, when the Revenue Stabilization Law, which provides the mechanism for distributing the state's revenue, is amended to reflect the submitted budget. Any appropriation not funded by the Revenue Stabilization Law is essentially null and void. Some observers believe that the Revenue Stabilization Act, while strict in its implementation, has prevented the state from suffering the financial difficulties of other states with less-strict preventive measures to avoid deficit spending.

Constitutional Conventions

The State of Arkansas has held eight Constitutional Conventions: 1836, 1861, 1864, 1868, 1874, 1917, 1969, and 1979. Despite this, the state has only had five constitutions in its history, those of 1836, 1861, 1864, 1868, and 1874.
Arkansas has held three constitutional conventions since 1874. None of these drafts were ratified.

1836 Constitutional Convention

In 1833, much of Arkansas was eager to be admitted as a state, but leaders of the prominent Conway-Johnson family had concerns about the taxation necessary to support state government on a low population, as well as political concerns. But when Michigan was preparing to enter the Union as a free state, Ambrose Sevier rose in the United States Congress to apply for statehood. Congress was hesitant to admit another pro-slavery state due to the tense equality achieved under the Missouri Compromise, but when paired with a free state, the balance of power in the United States Senate would not be upset. The 9th Arkansas Territorial General Assembly appropriated $60 for rent and $6 for firewood, to territorial governor William Fulton to host a constitutional convention.
Following the General Assembly's bill authorizing a constitutional convention, Fulton tried to halt the convention, but Attorney General, Benjamin F. Butler ruled the assemblage legal. The General Assembly fought over apportionment of delegates between the two "halves" of the state: the upland northwest with a largely white population, and the agrarian southeast, with an economy and society based on slavery and plantation agriculture, who sought to adopt an apportionment where slaves counted as three-fifths of the free white population, mirroring the three-fifths Compromise. David Walker led the northwest in ultimately counting only free white population in the apportionment of districts; with 26 delegates from the northwest and 26 from the southeast.
Convening in Little Rock on January 4, 1836, the convention quickly sought to re-litigate apportionment, this time for the Arkansas Senate. Ultimately, a compromise was reached giving the northwest and southeast regions eight senators each, with one from central Arkansas. The constitution was viewed as a democratic document for the period. The legislature was the most powerful branch; it selected US Senators, supreme court and circuit judges, and all state offices other than governor. It could override a gubernatorial veto with a simple majority and had no term limits imposed on members. The governor had four-year terms but was limited to serving eight years in every twelve. State representatives and county officials were elected by popular vote. Only white males were allowed to vote, but there was no property ownership requirement and poll taxes were banned except for raising funds for county government. It was ratified by the convention on January 30, 1836, with all delegates except Walker and Nathan Ross signing the document.
Delegate Charles F.M. Noland was selected to messenger the constitution to Washington D.C. for congressional approval. He did not arrive until March 8; Sevier instead presented a duplicate printed in the Arkansas Gazette to Congress on February 4 to begin discussion and debate. After passing both houses of Congress, on June 15 of that year, President Andrew Jackson signed the act making Arkansas the 25th state.