By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The state attorney general Wednesday certified the popular name and ballot title of a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend the terms of county officials from two to four years.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s certification clears the way for supporters to begin gathering signatures to place the measure on the November 2010 general election ballot. The Arkansas Sheriffs Association and other supporters have until July 2, 2010, to collect 74,468 signatures needed to qualify the measure for the 2010 ballot.
The proposed constitutional amendment is the second certified by the attorney general this year.
In March, McDaniel certified the popular name and title of a measure that would authorize casinos in seven counties across Arkansas on the 2010 general election ballot.
The proposal to extend the terms of county officials is similar to a proposal the attorney general certified two years ago, although that proposal was limited to county sheriffs. Supporters failed to collect the necessary signatures in time to get it on the 2008 general election ballot.
Under the proposal certified Wednesday, terms for all county elected offices would increase from two years to four years.
“Having analyzed your proposed amendment as well as your proposed popular name and ballot title … it is my conclusion that the popular name is sufficient as submitted,” McDaniel said in certifying the measure.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery, chairman of Sheriffs for Four-Year Terms Committee, which filed the request, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
This year, the Legislature referred three proposed constitutional amendments to the 2010 general election ballot:
- A proposal to make hunting, fishing and trapping a constitutional right.
- A proposal to let the General Assembly set new criteria for issuing bonds for large economic projects.
- A proposal that would repeal an interest rate cap of 5 percent above the federal discount rate but leave in place a 17 percent cap; repeal an interest rate cap of 2 percent above the discount rate on bonds issued by or loans issued by or to governmental units; and allow governmental entities to issue bonds to finance energy-efficiency projects and use savings from the projects to repay the loans.
