§ 19-5-205

Second of 2 versions of this section

19-5-205. Constitutional Officers Fund and State Central Services Fund. [Effective July 1, 2010.]

(a) The elected constitutional officers and their departments of government as established by the Arkansas Constitution and certain state departments and employees of state departments are known and recognized as performing and rendering, either individually or collectively, services to every other state agency. The General Assembly declares that the services rendered are embraced under or by one (1) or more of the items or agencies as follows:

(1) Services rendered by the legislative, judicial, and executive departments of the state as recognized by the Arkansas Constitution;

(2) Services rendered by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State for management of the state's resources relating to general fiscal affairs, administering the budget, accounting, purchasing, personnel, and other applicable fiscal laws; and

(3) Those agencies supported from the State Central Services Fund, which collect the general revenue and special revenues as defined in the Revenue Classification Law, 19-6-101 et seq., or such other laws as may be enacted by the General Assembly.

(b) (1) Those departments and activities of the state which perform the services as set out in subdivision (a)(1) of this section are declared to be the following:

(A) The General Assembly, including State Capitol renovation of the General Assembly quarters, Senate and House of Representatives legislative session staff, interim expenses incurred by members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the appropriations contained in the general appropriation bill made for services of the General Assembly;

(B) The Governor;

(C) The Lieutenant Governor;

(D) The Secretary of State;

(E) The Attorney General;

(F) The Treasurer of State;

(G) The Commissioner of State Lands;

(H) The Auditor of State;

(I) The Supreme Court;

(J) The Court of Appeals; and

(K) The circuit courts and prosecuting attorneys.

(2) Those agencies and activities of the state which perform the services as set out in subdivisions (a)(2) and (3) of this section are declared to be the following:

(A) Senate and House of Representatives interim staff;

(B) The Bureau of Legislative Research, and interim committee and interim committee study expenses of the Legislative Council;

(C) The Division of Local Affairs and Audits of the Division of Legislative Audit and the Division of Legislative Audit of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee;

(D) Grants and contributions for the Commission on Interstate Cooperation [abolished];

(E) The Secretary of State;

(F) Division of Administrative Services of the Department of Finance and Administration and Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration;

(G) The Administrative Office of the Courts;

(H) The Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator;

(I) The Arkansas Governor's Mansion Commission;

(J) The Arkansas State Claims Commission; and

(K) Other activities supporting the legislative, executive, and judicial departments.

(c) (1) (A) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a fund to be known as the "Constitutional Officers Fund", there to be used for the maintenance, operation, and improvements of those departments and activities as set out in subdivision (b)(1) of this section unless specific and separate funds are otherwise provided therefor.

(B) The Constitutional Officers Fund shall consist of:

(i) One-third (1/3) of the amount produced from the three percent (3%) deduction from the net general revenue deposited in the State Treasury;

(ii) One-third (1/3) of the amount produced from the three percent (3%) deduction from the net special revenues collected and deposited in the State Treasury by the agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section; and

(iii) One-third (1/3) of the amount produced from the one and one-half percent (1.5%) deduction from the net special revenues collected and deposited in the State Treasury by any other state agency, department, board, commission, or institution.

(C) (i) Any balance which remains in the Constitutional Officers Fund at the end of a fiscal year which exceeds seven percent (7%) of the appropriations funded from the Constitutional Officers Fund for the fiscal year just ended or which is estimated to be available for the fiscal year may be transferred from time to time to the State Central Services Fund for use in the next fiscal year.

(ii) If the funds transferred to the State Central Services Fund are based on an estimated balance which is less than the actual balance on June 30, the difference shall be transferred to the State Central Services Fund on or before August 1.

(iii) If the funds transferred to the State Central Services Fund are based on an estimated balance which is higher than the actual balance on June 30, the difference shall be transferred from the State Central Services Fund to the Constitutional Officers Fund on or before August 1.

(2) The Constitutional Officers Fund shall also be used to allow the payment of claims for judges due to overpayments into the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System prior to the enactment of 24-6-204 and 24-8-201 -- 24-8-211 by transfer to the Judges Retirement Fund in such amounts as may be appropriated by the General Assembly.

(d) (1) Facts before the General Assembly drawn from statistical computations, comparisons, and related data, taken over a period of many years in the past, are conclusive of the proposition that the cost of the services rendered by the agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section have amounted to not less than three percent (3%) of the total general revenues and special revenues as defined in the Revenue Classification Law of Arkansas, 19-6-101 et seq.

(2) It is therefore declared to be the policy of the State of Arkansas that every agency supported in whole or in part from the general revenues or special revenues deposited in the State Treasury shall contribute to the support of the services rendered by the agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section.

(3) The purposes for which the taxes, licenses, or fees and other income defined to be general revenues or special revenues are raised and collected shall be deemed to include the services as defined in this section.

(e) (1) (A) There is established on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a fund to be known as the "State Central Services Fund", there to be used for the maintenance, operation, and improvements of those agencies and activities as set out in subdivision (b)(2) of this section unless specific and separate funds are otherwise provided therefor.

(B) The State Central Services Fund shall consist of:

(i) Those special revenues as specified in 19-6-301(9), (11), (19), (21), (37), (75), (76), (77), (78), (79), (82), (83), (84), (85), (86), (87), (88), (89), (91), (96), (116), (118), (120), (124), (149), (188), (231), and (243), and eight percent (8%) of those special revenues as set out in 19-6-301(20) of the Revenue Classification Law, 19-6-101 et seq.;

(ii) The amount produced from the deduction from the net general revenues deposited in the State Treasury;

(iii) The amount produced from the deduction from the net special revenues collected and deposited in the State Treasury by the agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section;

(iv) The amount produced from the deduction from the net special revenues collected and deposited in the State Treasury by any other state agency, department, board, commission, or institution;

(v) All earnings and income collected by any of those agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section;

(vi) Funds received from federal funds on account of indirect cost reimbursement collected under a statewide indirect cost allocation plan and paid to any of the agencies set out in subsection (b) of this section;

(vii) Any other funds received from the federal government granted specifically to the agencies as set out in subsection (b) of this section, unless otherwise required by the grantor federal agency;

(viii) Interest earned on Social Security trust funds which are remitted to the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System and held in banks until transmitted to the federal Social Security Administration;

(ix) Reimbursements by transfer from the Ad Valorem Tax Fund on account of expenditures made to the Division of Local Affairs and Audits of the Division of Legislative Audit;

(x) Such general revenues as may be provided by the General Assembly;

(xi) One and one-half percent (1.5%) of those cash funds of those state agencies as defined in 19-5-206;

(xii) Such fund balances as may exist on June 30, 1995, in the Public Defender Fund of the State Treasury and all such funds as may accrue to and be transferred from the Public Defender Fund by the Treasurer of State on the last day of each month;

(xiii) Moneys transferred or deposited from the State Administration of Justice Fund for the benefit of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission;

(xiv) Public defender attorney fees to be used solely to defray costs for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission as set out in 5-4-303(i)(2)(A);

(xv) Public defender user fees to be used to defray the costs of the public defender system, 16-87-213;

(xvi) That portion of nonrefundable fees charged by bail bond companies for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, 17-19-301(e); and

(xvii) The first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) collected in taxes and penalties under 26-26-1614 and deposited as nonrevenue receipts during each fiscal year for use by the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration, 26-26-1616.

(2) If required to help meet the commitments of the State Central Services Fund and if funds are determined to be available, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may transfer a sum not to exceed four million dollars ($4,000,000) during any fiscal year from the Budget Stabilization Trust Fund to the State Central Services Fund.

(3) (A) After all other deductions and transfers from other sources authorized by law have been made available to the State Central Services Fund, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall transfer such additional amounts as may be required from the General Revenue Fund Account to the State Central Services Fund to fully finance the expenditures and obligations from the appropriations set out in this section.

(B) (i) The amount of the transfer shall be determined by subtracting the total of all estimated expenditures from the State Central Services Fund from the total resources available to the State Central Services Fund without a transfer of general revenue.

(ii) Then the result shall be multiplied by the proportion that the estimated expenditures for the budgets as set out in subdivision (3)(C) of this section bears to the total of all the estimated expenditures from the State Central Services Fund.

(iii) The product shall be the amount of general revenue required to meet the expenditures and commitments of the agencies and budget set out in subdivision (e)(3)(C) of this section.

(C) The appropriations to which this subdivision (e)(3) applies are determined to be the:

(i) House of Representatives;

(ii) Senate;

(iii) Division of Legislative Audit of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee;

(iv) Bureau of Legislative Research;

(v) Bureau of Legislative Research -- Disbursing Officer;

(vi) Court of Appeals;

(vii) Administrative Office of the Courts -- Operations;

(viii) Supreme Court;

(ix) Governor;

(x) Lieutenant Governor;

(xi) Attorney General;

(xii) Auditor of State -- Operations;

(xiii) Commissioner of State Lands;

(xiv) Secretary of State;

(xv) Treasurer of State;

(xvi) Department of Finance and Administration -- Division of Administrative Services:

(a) Director's Office;

(b) Director's Office -- Office of Economic Analysis and Tax Research;

(c) Office of Accounting;

(d) Office of Budget;

(e) Office of Personnel Management; and

(f) Office of Administrative Services -- Office of Information Services; and

(xvii) Department of Finance and Administration -- Revenue Division.

(D) The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall notify the disbursing officers of the appropriations from the State Central Services Fund not enumerated in subdivision (e)(3)(C) of this section of the amount of their portion of any reduction required from their authorized appropriations in order to maintain the fund with a projected positive balance.

(E) In no event shall any funds or appropriations for that particular disbursing agency enumerated in subdivision (e)(3)(C) of this section be affected if a deficit occurs in other State Central Services Fund appropriations or funds not enumerated in subdivision (e)(3)(C) of this section for that particular disbursing agency.

(4) Any unexpended and unobligated balance remaining on June 30 of any fiscal year in the State Central Services Fund above five million dollars ($5,000,000) shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund Account to be used in the next following fiscal year.