Does Arkansas's Public School Health Services Advisory Committee still have to meet before its statutory term ends?

Plain-English summary

Representative Mary Bentley asked whether the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee (created by Act 935 of 2015 and codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709) still had authority to meet given its impending sunset. The Committee was charged with conducting an annual review of on-campus healthcare services for Arkansas public school children and developing guidelines for those services.

The AG read three pieces of the statute together: subsection (a)(4) (the term expires December 31, 2017), subsection (e)(1) (the Committee "shall continue to meet until its term expires"), and subsection (a)(8)(A) (the Committee "shall meet at least one (1) time every quarter"). Read harmoniously, the AG concluded the Committee was not just authorized but actually required to keep meeting until December 31, 2017, including at least one meeting in the final quarter (October 1 through December 31). After expiration, the Committee would no longer exist, and neither it nor its individual members would have authority to meet, citing the prior Op. Att'y Gen. 2017-075 for the same conclusion about member terms expiring with the Committee.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2017. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

How the AG read the three subsections together

The AG used the standard Arkansas harmonization canon: each section of a statute is read in light of every other section, and the cardinal rule is to construe the statute "just as it reads," giving its words their ordinary meaning (MacSteel, Green v. Mills). Three provisions controlled.

Subsection (a)(4) sets the sunset date. "[T]he term of the ... Committee shall expire on December 31, 2017."

Subsection (e)(1) creates a meeting obligation tied to the term. The Committee "shall continue to meet until its term expires and make any further recommendations to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education that the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee deems necessary."

Subsection (a)(8)(A) sets the cadence. The Committee "shall meet at least one (1) time every quarter."

Read together, the Committee was operating under a continuing meeting obligation through December 31, 2017, with quarterly minimums baked in. The AG drew the practical conclusion: there had to be at least one meeting between October 1 and December 31, 2017.

The AG also noted that once the Committee's term expired, the body itself ceased to exist. That extinction necessarily extinguishes the meeting obligation, and per Op. Att'y Gen. 2017-075, also extinguishes individual members' terms.

Common questions

Could the legislature have extended the term?
Yes. Sunset provisions are routinely extended by subsequent legislation. The 2017 General Assembly chose not to do so here. After December 31, 2017, the Committee dissolved by statute.

Did the Committee actually meet that quarter?
The opinion does not say. It establishes the legal requirement; whether the Committee fulfilled it was beyond the AG's review. A failure to meet would not undo the sunset, but could have raised questions about the validity of any final recommendations.

Were there penalties for missing the quarterly meeting?
The statute does not specify penalties. The general FOIA penalty regime (negligent violation Class C misdemeanor under § 25-19-104, nonfeasance under § 14-42-109 for elected officials) is unlikely to apply to an advisory-committee meeting requirement. The practical consequence would have been incomplete fulfillment of the Committee's statutory mandate.

What happened to the Committee's recommendations?
Under subsection (e)(1), the Committee was to make "further recommendations to the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education that the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee deems necessary." Those recommendations would have been the Committee's final work product before dissolution.

Why did this question come up in late 2017?
Sunset-driven questions often surface in the final quarter of a body's life. The Committee likely wanted to confirm it could (or had to) hold a final meeting before the December 31 sunset. The AG's answer made clear that meeting was both authorized and obligated.

Background and statutory framework

Section 6-18-709 was enacted by Act 935 of 2015 to fill a gap in Arkansas's statutory framework for on-campus public school health services. The Committee was given a defined two-year-plus term (through December 31, 2017) and a specific work product (annual reviews and guidelines for on-campus healthcare). The sunset is typical of advisory-committee design: time-limited, focused mandate, no carryover authority absent legislative renewal.

Op. Att'y Gen. 2017-075 was the AG's earlier opinion on the same Committee, addressing whether members could continue to serve beyond the term-expiration date. The conclusion (no) governs by extension here.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709 (Public School Health Services Advisory Committee)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(a)(4) (term expires December 31, 2017)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(a)(8)(A) (quarterly meeting requirement)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(b)(1) (annual review of on-campus healthcare)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(c) (development of guidelines)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(e)(1) (continued meeting obligation)
• MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Arkansas Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 210 S.W.3d 878 (2005) (statutory construction)
• Green v. Mills, 339 Ark. 200, 4 S.W.3d 493 (1999) (read in context of statute as a whole)
• Chism v. Phelps, 228 Ark. 936, 311 S.W.2d 297 (1958) (read each section in light of others)
• Op. Att'y Gen. 2017-075 (member terms expire with Committee)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2017-098
December 12, 2017
The Honorable Mary Bentley
State Representative
142 Shady Lane
Perryville, AR 72126-8103
Dear Representative Bentley:
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLI E RUTLEDGE
This is in response to your request for an opinion on the following question:
Does the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee,
established by Act 935of2015, still have the authority to meet?
RESPONSE
The term for the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee ("the
Committee") ends on December 31, 2017. 1 Accordingly, the Committee is not
only authorized, but indeed is required to meet until the expiration of its term on
this date. And because the Committee is required to meet at least one time every
quarter, it must meet at least once between October 1, 2017 and December 31,
2017.2
DISCUSSION
Act 935of2015-codified at Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-18-709- established the Public
School Health Services Advisory Committee. The Committee is required to
conduct a study and annual review regarding on-campus healthcare services for
1 Ark. Code Ann. § 6-l 8-709(a)( 4) (Supp. 2015). Please note that I have enclosed a copy of Op.
Att'y Gen. 2017-075, which provides a more detailed analysis regarding the Committee's end
date.
2 Id. at§ 6-l 8-709(a)(8)(A).
323 CENTER STREET, SU ITE 200 · LITTLE ROCK. ARKANSAS 72201
TELEPHONE (501) 682-2007 · FAX (501) 682-8084
ARKANSASAG.GOV The Honorable Mary Bentley
State Representative
Opinion No. 2017-098
Page 2
Arkansas public school children3 and develop guidelines for public-school
healthcare based on these studies and annual reviews.4
In addition to these duties, the legislation established certain requirements with
respect to Committee meetings, and in particular requires that the Committee
"shall meet at least one ( 1) time every quarter. "5 The law likewise requires that:
The Public School Health Services Advisory Committee shall
continue to meet until its term expires and make any further
recommendations to the House Committee on Education and the
Senate Committee on Education that the Public School Health
Services Advisory Committee deems necessary. 6
Finally, the law makes clear that "the term of the ... Committee shall expire on
December 31, 2017."7
Section 6-18-709 is the governing statute for the Committee. The cardinal rule of
statutory interpretation is to construe a statute just as it reads, giving its words
their ordinary and usually accepted meaning in common language. 8 When
construing statutes, our courts "look to the language under discussion in the
context of the statute as a whole."9 Each section of a statute is to be read in light
of every other section. 10
3 Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709(b )( 1 ).
4 Id. at§ 6-18-709(c).
5 Id. at§ 6-l 8-709(a)(8)(A).
6 Id. at § 6-18-709( e )(1) (emphasis added).
7 Id. at§ 6-18-709(a)(4).
8 MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Arkansas Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 30, 210 S.W.3d 878, 882-
83 (2005) (internal citations omitted).
9 Green v. Mills, 339 Ark. 200, 205, 4 S.W.3d 493, 496 (1999) (internal citations omitted).
1° Chism v. Phelps, 228 Ark. 936, 311 S.W.2d 297 (1958) (citing Berry v. Sale, 184 Ark. 655, 43
S.W.2d 225 (1931)). The Honorable Mary Bentley
State Representative
Opinion No. 2017-098
Page 3
As stated above, the Committee has a statutory requirement to meet "until its term
expires."11 And subsection (a)(4) clearly indicates that the Committee's "term"
expires December 31, 2017. 12 Reading these two provisions together, as we must,
it necessarily follows that the Committee is not only authorized, but indeed is
required to meet until its term ends on December 31, 2017. And because the
Committee is likewise required to meet "at least one (1) time every quarter,"13 it
has an obligation to meet at least once between October 1, 2017 and December 31,
2017.
Upon the expiration of its term, the Committee will no longer exist. It reasonably
follows that the Committee will not be required or authorized to meet after that
date. 14
Sincerely,
~b?L-
LESLIE RUTL~
Attorney General
11 Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-709( e )( 1) (emphasis added).
12 Id. at§ 6-18-709(a)(4).
13 Id. at§ 6-18-709(a)(8)(A).
14 This conclusion necessarily extends to the individual members of the Committee. As I stated in
the attached Op. Att'y Gen. 2017-075, once the Committee expires, the terms of service of the
individual Committee members likewise expire.