By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A number of proposals are up for debate as lawmakers return for week four of the 87th General Assembly, including bills to remove the statute of limitations on rape, allow permit holders to carry concealed handguns into church, and to authorize the sale of unpasteurized milk.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to discuss House Bill 1048, by Rep. Dawn Creekmore, which would add rape and first-degree sexual assault to murder as the only crimes in Arkansas law with no statute of limitations, meaning no time limit on when charges can be filed.

Rape and first-degree sexual assault currently have a six-year statute of limitations.

Also Tuesday, the committee is expected to consider HB 1237 by Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, which would allow Arkansans with permits to carry concealed handguns to take them to church.

The measure would remove “any church or other place of worship” from the list of places that a person with a license to carry a concealed handgun is not allowed to carry a gun under state law.

“Because of so many things that’s happened across the nation in our churches, so many incidents and deaths, this is something that needs to be addressed before something … happens in our state,” she said.

The panel’s agenda also includes HB 1010 by Rep. Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista, intended to protect public school children from sex offenders.

Under the measure, anyone who is a level 2 registered sex offender would be prohibited from entering a public school campus.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor is to debate HB 1114 by Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove, which would allow a person to sell up to 100 gallons a year of unpasteurized milk.

Martin said raw milk is considered by some to be healthier than pasteurized milk. He said some consumers of raw milk — selling it is legal in more than 25 other states — and some farmers asked him to file the bill.

The state Department of Health opposes the measure because of safety concerns to humans.

Martin, who noted that raw goat’s milk is already allowed to be sold in the state, said “there’s a group of health-conscious people out there who want that natural milk and they’re willing to pay a premium for it.”

“This is a good opportunity for smaller farmers,” he said.

The measure passed in the House 90-5 last week.

Also on tap this week is the unveiling at noon Wednesday of a bust in honor of the late Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller, who died in 2006.

The unveiling will be in the second-floor rotunda and Rockefeller’s family and friends are expected to attend.