---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO INCREASE YOUTH VOICE AND ALLOW A JUVENILE'S PREFERENCES CONCERNING FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS AND FAMILY TIME TO BE CONSIDERED REGARDLESS OF AGE IF HE OR SHE IS OF SUFFICIENT AGE AND CAPACITY TO REASON; AND TO ESTABLISH SAMANTHA'S LAW."
description: "TO INCREASE YOUTH VOICE AND ALLOW A JUVENILE'S PREFERENCES CONCERNING FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS AND FAMILY TIME TO BE CONSIDERED REGARDLESS OF AGE IF HE OR SHE IS OF SUFFICIENT AGE AND CAPACITY TO REASON; AND TO ESTABLISH SAMANTHA'S LAW."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1153"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1153 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["K. Hammer", "Vaught"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-17T20:00:45+00:00"
last_action: "2023-03-02T14:39:47+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/76b02722-fddf-44ed-9447-bfc8e09e88a0"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "e085967426f602dcd6a0edb7cff923458153507e85460bb533b0ce10ef248184"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ar"]
---

# Arkansas HB 1153 (2023) — TO INCREASE YOUTH VOICE AND ALLOW A JUVENILE'S PREFERENCES CONCERNING FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS AND FAMILY TIME TO BE CONSIDERED REGARDLESS OF AGE IF HE OR SHE IS OF SUFFICIENT AGE AND CAPACITY TO REASON; AND TO ESTABLISH SAMANTHA'S LAW.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Act 168** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=168.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **Amendment H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1153-H1.pdf)
3. **Amendment H2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FAMEND%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1153-H2.pdf)
4. **HB 1153** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/HB1153.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **94–0** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- K. Hammer — primary (person)
- Vaught — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-01-17T20:00:45+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-01-17T22:21:42+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-08T17:31:56+00:00** Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 1 `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-09T14:32:58+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2023-02-09T14:33:01+00:00** Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-09T16:01:41+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2023-02-13T19:40:04+00:00** Re-referred to the Committee on AGING, CHILDREN AND YOUTH, LEGISLATIVE & MILITARY AFFAIRS- HOUSE `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-15T16:59:34+00:00** Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 2 `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-16T14:30:17+00:00** Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
- **2023-02-16T14:30:19+00:00** Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-16T16:22:19+00:00** REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
- **2023-02-20T19:49:27+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-20T21:35:14+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2023-02-20T21:35:24+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-22T19:25:45+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-27T20:00:41+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-27T20:00:56+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2023-02-27T21:45:37+00:00** Returned From the Senate as passed.
- **2023-02-27T21:45:39+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2023-02-28T14:43:28+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2023-03-02T14:39:47+00:00** Notification that HB1153 is now Act 168 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/76b02722-fddf-44ed-9447-bfc8e09e88a0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).