AR SB1014

Amends Arkansas Code § 19-11-701(9) to clarify the definition of "financial interest" to include "imputed interest" and involvement in relationships yielding more than $1,000 per year, covering stocks, bonds, leasehold interests, property rights, mineral leases, partnership interests, liens, and real or personal property including indebtedness.

Adds new definition of "imputed interest" under § 19-11-701(17) to mean financial interests held by an employee's spouse, minor child, general business partner, entities where the employee serves as officer/director/trustee/general partner/employee, or entities with which the employee is negotiating prospective employment.

Modifies § 19-11-705(a)(1)(A) conflict of interest standards to require that an employee's participation have both a direct effect on their financial interest and a close causal link between the decision/action and the expected effect on that interest.

Specifies that direct effects can occur even if not immediate, but excludes situations where the chain of causation depends on speculative or unrelated events.