Arkansas Senate

The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have full-time jobs during the rest of the year. During the current term, the Senate contains twenty-nine Republicans and six Democrats. History The Arkansas Senate was created and re-created by the Arkansas Constitution ratified on January 30, 1836. It is now governed by the fifth and current constitution of Arkansas adopted in 1874. During the Reconstruction era after the American Civil War, the federal government passed the Reconstruction Acts and enfranchised African Americans. Many African Americans served in the Arkansas House and a smaller number in the Arkansas Senate (African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era) until Democrats reasserted white supremacy and barred them from voting and holding office as was done across the American south. In 1947, the Arkansas Legislative Council committee was created to collect data for legislators and oversee the Bureau of Legislative Research, which is composed of professional, nonpartisan staff to aid in the legislative process. The committee consists of 36 legislators, 16 of which are state senators.