(The Center Square) - Law enforcement officers in Arkansas are set to receive stipend payments beginning July 1, funded by a $40.4 million package passed by lawmakers during the legislative session.
The Executive Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council clarified rules Tuesday related to the stipend payments that lawmakers said they hoped would overcome lagging recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers in the state.
Under Act 224 of 2022, qualifying officers employed by a city or county or employed by the Department of Corrections will receive one-time payments of $5,000. Other eligible officers employed by the Department of Public Safety will receive one-time stipend payments of $2,000, according to the Department of Finance and Administration.
The department estimated the total revenue impact would be $40.46 million. Act 224 appropriated $50 million for the stipends.
An estimated 7,300 officers will receive a $5,000 stipend, and 542 officers will receive a $2,000 stipend, according to the Department of Finance and Administration.
The emergency clause in Act 224 said the stipends are meant to combat “economic conditions that have impaired the ability of state and local governments to recruit and retain qualified law enforcement officers.”
The executive subcommittee approved rules Tuesday that provides for a review process for officers who are denied payment of the stipend or required to pay it back if they are found to not qualify for the payment. The process would allow an officer to request reconsideration in that event.
“An officer that receives the stipend must continue his or her employment as a full-time certified law enforcement officer with an eligible law enforcement agency for a minimum of 180 days after receipt of the stipend or be subject to repayment of the stipend unless an exception provided in the bill applies,” according to the DFA. “An eligible law enforcement agency is also subject to repayment of the stipend funds if the agency fails to properly pay a stipend to an officer or fails to return a stipend returned by an officer.”
The stipends will be paid out beginning on July 1, 2022, and end on June 30, 2023, according to Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety Jami Cook.
Officers who are eligible for the stipends include full-time law enforcement officers employed as of July 1, 2022, and those hired after July 1, 2022, but on or before Jan. 31, 2023, according to the DFA.