LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) – Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a bill on Wednesday (April 8) adding a $25 fine for any individual convicted of a crime that involves a child or that was committed in the presence of a child, according to legislative records.
The bill was called SB 867, and it was filed by Sen. Eddie Williams, R-Cabot, on March 9. Now that the legislation has been signed into law, it is called Act 1220.
The $25 court fine is stacked on top of any sentence the convict receives, the law states.
The legislation lists several crimes that can be committed against a child or in the presence of a child that an individual can be convicted of and given the additional $25 court fine for. Those crimes are listed below:
- Manslaughter
- False imprisonment
- Battery
- Aggravated assault
- Introduction of controlled substance into the body of another person
- Terroristic threatening
- Sexual indecency with a child
- Trafficking of persons
- Domestic battering
- Endangering the welfare of a minor
- Engaging in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium
- Employing or consenting to the use of a child in a sexual performance
- Distributing, possessing or viewing child pornography
- Aggravated cruelty to a dog, cat or horse
- Driving or boating while intoxicated
To read the law, click here.