Although the US Constitution prohibits the use of a “religious test” to bar officeholders, the Arkansas constitution states that “No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State . . . .” However, in recent times, this has not been enforced (and probably could not be). Nonetheless, the language still remains within the constitution, awaiting some future date when it will probably be removed as a result of some effort at modernization.
The current constitution has been in place for over 125 years (with a number of amendments) but so far the people of the state have resisted a wholesale change to the document, preferring to work with it a little at a time.
Preamble to the Constitution
“We, the People of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government; for our civil and religious liberty; and desiring to perpetuate its blessings, and secure the same to our selves and posterity; do ordain and establish this Constitution.”
Numbers
- 5 – Number of Constitutions
- 1874 – Year Current Constitution Accepted
Online References
Books to Read
Arkansas Politics and Government, Second Edition by Diane D. Blair and Jay Barth
Published a decade and a half after the late Diane D. Blair’s influential book Arkansas Politics and Government, this freshly revised edition builds on her work, which highlighted both the decades of failure by Arkansas’s government to live up to the state’s motto of Regnat Populus (“The People Rule”) and the positive trends of democracy. Since the first edition, Arkansas has seen the two-term U.S. presidency of a native son, the retirement of players who defined the state’s politics in the modern era, the further realignment of the state’s electorate, the passage of the nation’s most extreme legislative term limits, the complete overhaul of the state’s court system, and the declaration that the state’s public education system was unconstitutionally inadequate and inequitable. [excerpted from the publisher's description]
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The Arkansas State Constitution: A Reference Guide by Kay Collett Goss
This authoritative reference gives a brief history of the development of the Arkansas State Constitution and then presents the official text with an article-by-article commentary. This unique guide is designed for lawyers, scholars, and students of constitutional history, constitutional law, and state history, but is written in a manner that makes the book accessible to the general public. The volume offers a constitutional history of the five different constitutions, the conventions, and proposed amendments and then provides an analysis of the various articles, provisions, and myriad amendments of importance. A selected bibliography, table of cases, and general index add to the usefulness of this unique guide. [excerpted from the publisher's description]
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Other resources for state-level constitutions
