---
type: "Bill"
title: "TO CLARIFY THAT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS APPLY TO ALL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL; AND TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK LAW TO INCLUDE OFFENSES PROSECUTED IN OTHER STATES OR BY FEDERAL COURTS."
description: "TO CLARIFY THAT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS APPLY TO ALL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL; AND TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK LAW TO INCLUDE OFFENSES PROSECUTED IN OTHER STATES OR BY FEDERAL COURTS."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ar"
legislature: "Arkansas Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1251"
citation: "Arkansas HB 1251 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Boyd", "L. Johnson"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-01-25T20:10:29+00:00"
last_action: "2023-02-14T22:51:45+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/760bc8e7-b114-48e0-b776-895006a0803f"
source_url: "ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/SessionInformation/LegislativeMeasures.txt"
source_hash: "15c9e3ccbbfe9e20d4c673a366b9c519062a23469819cce5f358ac450db53546"
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 1251 (2023) — TO CLARIFY THAT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS APPLY TO ALL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL; AND TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK LAW TO INCLUDE OFFENSES PROSECUTED IN OTHER STATES OR BY FEDERAL COURTS.

## Version chain

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

1. **Act 51** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2023R%2FPublic%2F&file=51.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2023%2F2023R)
2. **HB 1251** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2023/2023R/Bills/HB1251.pdf)

## Votes

- Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Read the third time and passed. — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- J. Boyd — primary (person)
- L. Johnson — primary (person)
- Irvin — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-25T20:10:29+00:00** Filed `introduction`
- **2023-01-25T22:32:11+00:00** Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE- HOUSE `reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-31T17:19:05+00:00** Returned by the Committee Do Pass `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-01T20:18:41+00:00** Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-01T21:44:14+00:00** Received from the House.
- **2023-02-01T21:44:22+00:00** Read first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND LABOR COMMITTEE - SENATE `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-08T19:22:02+00:00** Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-02-09T17:48:38+00:00** Read the third time and passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-09T17:48:48+00:00** Returned to the House as passed.
- **2023-02-09T19:08:20+00:00** Returned From the Senate as passed.
- **2023-02-09T19:08:22+00:00** TO BE ENROLLED
- **2023-02-09T20:26:11+00:00** Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office.
- **2023-02-14T22:51:45+00:00** Notification that HB1251 is now Act 51 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/760bc8e7-b114-48e0-b776-895006a0803f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Arkansas legislature records).