SB 774 Summary

• Creates the Arkansas Physical Privacy and Safety Act to designate restrooms and changing facilities in government buildings (schools, colleges, and state agencies) for use by members of only one sex based on biological sex determined by anatomy and genetics at birth.

• Requires government entities to ensure all restrooms and changing facilities provide privacy from members of the opposite sex, with exceptions for maintenance, medical assistance, emergencies, and accommodations for disabilities or single-occupancy facilities.

• Establishes private cause of action allowing individuals to sue government entities for monetary damages if they encounter opposite-sex individuals in sex-designated facilities due to entity permission or failure to prohibit such access.

• Permits prevailing claimants to recover reasonable attorney's fees, costs, and damages for psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered.

• Does not restrict private entities from adopting their own restroom policies and prohibits political subdivisions from considering private entity restroom policies when awarding contracts; declares emergency clause for immediate effectiveness upon approval.