First bill of 2023 session filed to reform sentencing, parole laws

The first bill of the 2023 Arkansas General Assembly was filed Tuesday (Nov. 15) by Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould.

By Roby Brock
Talk Business and Politics

The first bill of the 2023 Arkansas General Assembly was filed Tuesday (Nov. 15) by Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould.

The mirror bills, SB2 and HB1002, would seemingly make changes to the state’s truth-in-sentencing and parole laws, according to their titles, but no details were provided.

Known as a “shell bill,” the legislation is titled “the ‘Truth in Sentencing and Parole Reform Act of 2023.'”

The purpose of the act is to amend Arkansas law concerning sentencing and parole, but that is all the bill mentions.

No other legislation has been filed so far. Read more.