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     The 85th Arkansas General Assembly convened on January 10, 2005. It recessed on April 15 to reconvene on May 13 for the purpose of considering vetoes, correcting errors and oversights, completing its work on proposed constitutional amendments and considering the need for further extension of session. When it reconvened on May 13, it adjourned sine die. Therefore, any Act without an emergency clause or a provision specifying its effective date became effective on August 12, 2005. There were 3176 Bills introduced of which 2325 became law. It is the purpose of this article to review some of the major legislative issues of interest to attorneys dealt with during this session.
All legislation proposed by the Arkansas Bar Association in its legislative package was enacted into law. The core of the package consisted of 3 bills—The Arkansas Trust Code, Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code and an Act addressing retention of records by state agencies.

ARKANSAS TRUST CODE - ACT 1031 of 2005
     The Arkansas Trust Code is the culmination of years of study by the National Conference on Uniform State Laws which was tailored to Arkansas by an Arkansas Bar Association task force during a two-year study. It codifies a comprehensive set of rules pertaining to trusts. Until enactment of the Code, Arkansas law applicable to trusts was largely found in cases or did not exist at all. Most of the rules in the Code are "default rules" which apply only when the trust document does not have contrary provisions. Adoption of the Arkansas Trust Code eliminates a great deal of uncertainty and expense in connection with trusts in Arkansas. It codifies Arkansas case law. It is largely consistent with trust law in other states.

UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE AMENDMENTS -ACT 856 of 2005
     Act 856 amends Articles 1, 3 and 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code. These amendments are slight modifications of amendments adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
     They basically modernize the Commercial Code to deal with electronic transactions, remotely created items and other aspects of banking transactions.

RECORD RETENTION - ACT 918 of 2005
     As a result of an Act passed by the Legislature in 2001, there has been no general requirement for agencies of the state to preserve public records. Act 918 cures this deficiency by requiring development of rules and guidelines for the retention of public records commonly found in most state agencies. It requires each state agency to comply with the developed rules and guidelines at a definite future time.
     In addition to the legislative package, there were a number of bills the Association supported through the Legislation Committee. They include:

LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ACT AMENDMENTS - ACT 1158 of 2005
     The current Limited Partnership Act cross-references and incorporates some substantive provisions of the old Arkansas Partnership Act of 1991. When Arkansas adopted a new partnership act in 1999, some of those cross-referenced substantive provisions of the old Partnership Act of 1991 were repealed effective January 1, 2005. This caused two problems. First, since the repeal took effect on January 1, 2005, between the repeal date and the date of this new legislation, certain kinds of limited partnerships had been operating without the benefit of those repealed provisions. Second, unless something was done, there would continue to be no law in existence to fill the void created by the repeal of the crossreferenced substantive provisions.
     Act 1158 cured both problems. First, it revived part of the repealed language from the old Partnership Act of 1991 on a retroactive basis to cover the "gap" between the January 1, 2005 repeal and the effective date of the Act—March 22, 2005. Second, the Act adopts provisions of the new Partnership Act that was adopted in 1999, to be applied after the effective date of the Act.
     Consideration was given to adopting an entirely new Limited Partnership Act in order to modernize Arkansas Law. The Bill that was introduced has been referred to the Business Law Section of the Arkansas Bar Association for study in order that it can be considered in the 2007 regular session.

CRIMINAL CODE REVISION - ACT 1994 of 2005
     The framework for the Arkansas Criminal Code was adopted in 1975. Over the ensuing years much legislation establishing new crimes and penalties did not fit the framework. In the 2003 regular session, the Arkansas Bar Association supported legislation which authorized the establishment of the Arkansas Criminal Code Revision Commission. Act 1994 of 2005 is the culmination of almost two years of work by that diversified Commission which studied all criminal provisions of the Code and recommended modifications to reestablish consistency.

SMALL ESTATES AMENDMENT - ACT 899 of 2005
     The sole change to current law addressed by Act 899 increases the maximum amount of the value of an estate for treatment as a small estate from $50,000 to $100,000.

SIMULTANEOUS DEATH - ACT 74 of 2005
     The new Uniform Simultaneous Death Act (2005) was adopted by Act 74 of 2005 to become effective January 1, 2006. Generally, under this new Act, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived another individual by at least one hundred twenty (120) hours is deemed to have predeceased the other individual. Likewise, if a provision of a governing instrument relates to an individual surviving the event, including the death of another individual, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the event by one hundred twenty (120) hours is deemed to have predeceased the event.
     Some other new laws include:

BENEFICIARY DEEDS - ACT 1918 of 2005
     A new form of conveyance of title in real property, to be known as a Beneficiary Deed, is created by Act 1918. A Beneficiary Deed conveys an interest in real property to a designated grantee beneficiary effective upon the death of the grantee (owner) subject to any debt secured by a lien on the real property and other interests specifically set forth in the legislation. A Beneficiary Deed is not effective until the death of the grantor, and then only if it has been previously recorded and no revocation by the grantor has been recorded. Some forms are set forth in the legislation.

PATIENT MEDICAL RECORDS PRACTICE ACT - ACT 1436 of 2005
     Any party in private litigation in a civil action who receives or obtains a copy of a patient's medical records from a doctor, hospital, or other custodian of records by using a subpoena, court order, or consent form signed by the patient must provide written notice of receipt of the records to the patient or the patient's attorney if the patient is represented by an attorney. The notice must include the name and address of the provider for each record which was obtained and it must be made by either mail with a return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee or the agent of the addressee or by facsimile with a receipt or transaction report showing that the transmittal was received. If the required notice is not given, a party in litigation is prohibited from introducing the patient's medical records into evidence or referring to those records in any manner in a legal proceeding relating to the patient. This legislation provides that it shall be deemed to be superseded upon adoption of a Supreme Court rule which is substantially similar.

INTENT TO SETTLE CONTESTED CLAIMS - ACT 2271 of 2005
     If an insured notifies an insurer in writing that the amount of, or liability for, a claim is contested and requests in writing notice of the insurer's settlement of the claim, then the insurer is required to provide its insured written notice of the terms of settlement of the claim. These provisions do not apply to personal line of insurance.
     It is recommended that practitioners review the Summary of Action handed out at the Arkansas Bar Association's Annual Meeting. A copy of the Summary can be obtained from the Association.•