Arkansas 2025 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate

SB 468 — TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING FLUORIDATION OF A PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM; AND TO ALLOWS VOTERS TO ELECT "FOR" OR "AGAINST" WATER FLUORIDATION IN THE COUNTY.

Last action — Died on Senate Calendar at Sine Die adjournment.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Senate” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

In plain language

The bill allows voters to decide on water fluoridation in their counties.

This bill enables residents in counties with a public water system to vote on whether to fluoridate the water. Elections can be initiated through a petition or by a vote of the county's quorum court.

What this means for you
  • Consumers: This means consumers may have a say in whether their drinking water is fluoridated.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

2 changes Share ↗

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill allows voters in counties to decide on the fluoridation of their public water systems through elections.

  • 14-116-108

    14-116-108. Election for fluoridation of water — Definition. (a) Residents of counties supplied by a public water system shall have the option to hold an election of the qualified electors of each county supplied by the public water system to determine whether or not the public water system shall fluoridate the water. (b)(1) An election under this section may be called by: (A) A petition for each county supplied by the public water system signed by no less than five percent (5%) of the total number of votes cast within the county for the office of circuit clerk in the last election; or (B) A majority vote of the quorum court of each county supplied by the public water system. (2)(A) Except as provided under subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this section, an election under this section shall be held at the next general election. (B) A subsequent election in the public water system under this section shall not be held earlier than four (4) years after an election is held under this section. (3) Except as provided in this section, the election under this section shall be held and conducted in accordance with the general election laws of this state. (4) The question of whether to fluoridate the water in the public water system shall be placed upon the ballots of the qualified electors in the following form: "___ FOR THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [NAME OF COUNTY] ___ AGAINST THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN [NAME OF COUNTY].". (c)(1) The petition under this section shall be filed with the county clerk of the county where the sponsor of the petition resides no less than one hundred twenty (120) days before the general election. (2) No more than ten (10) days after the filing of the petition under subdivision (c)(1) of this section, the county clerk shall: (A) Verify the petition; (B) Certify the petition; and (C) Notify the county boards of election commissioners for the counties within the public water system and the board of directors of the public water system of the verification and certification of the petition. (3) The petition shall clearly state: (A) Which county is served by the public water system; and (B) That the petition is to elect "for" or "against" fluoridation of the water in the public water system. (d) If the petition is sufficient, the question of whether to fluoridate the water in the county shall be placed on the ballot of the county indicated on the petition. (e) If the majority of the qualified electors in each of the counties supplied by the public water system elect to prohibit fluoridation of water, the public water system shall cease fluoridation of the water within thirty (30) days of the certification of the election results. (f) As used in this section, "public water system" means a facility, including without limitation a parent system, consecutive system, or other system, that holds, treats, and supplies water directly or through a consecutive system or consecutive systems to five thousand (5,000) persons or more.

    This addition establishes a formal process for counties to hold elections regarding water fluoridation.

  • 20-7-136(b)

    The Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, the company, corporation, municipality, county, government agency, or other entity that owns or controls a water system shall control the quantity of fluoride in the water so as to maintain a fluoride content established by the Department of Health. → (1) The company, corporation, municipality, county, government agency, or other entity that owns or controls a water system shall control the quantity of fluoride in the water so as to maintain a fluoride content established by the Department of Health. (2)(A) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2)(B) of this section, the board of a public water system may elect to prohibit fluoridation of the water it supplies. (B) The results of an election under § 14-16-108 shall supersede any decision of the board of a public water system regarding the fluoridation of the water it supplies.

    This change stipulates that election results regarding fluoridation will override the board's decisions on the matter.

Amendments

1 amendment

Click Show changes on an amendment above to see how it modifies the bill.

Action History

  1. Died on Senate Calendar at Sine Die adjournment.

  2. Read the third time and failed.

  3. REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED

  4. Amendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed.

  5. Placed on second reading for purpose of amendment.

  6. Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it Do Pass as amended, Amendment # 1

  7. Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to STATE AGENCIES & GOVT'L AFFAIRS-SENATE

  8. Filed

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 2 co-sponsors · 134 not signed on

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (2)

Not signed on (134)

134 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

elections environment
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 468?
SB 468 is sponsored by Aaron Pilkington, Bryan King, Matt Duffield, and Clint Penzo.
What is the current status of SB 468?
This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Senate” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track SB 468?
Track SB 468 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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