2027 Arkansas legislative session: dates and deadlines

The 2027 session is the regular session of the 96th General Assembly. A regular session is open to any bill or resolution, unlike the even-year fiscal session. Most of the deadlines below come from the joint rules of the House and Senate, as summarized by the Bureau of Legislative Research (BLR), the Legislature's nonpartisan staff.

Key dates

Convenes

Monday, January 11, 2027, at 12:00 noon (A.C.A. § 10-2-101(a)).

Prefiling opens

Monday, November 16, 2026 (A.C.A. § 10-2-112(a)).

Last scheduled filing deadline

Monday, March 1, 2027, for appropriation bills (Joint Rule 14(A)).

Planned length

60 calendar days unless extended (Ark. Const. art. 5, § 17).

Adjournment

Not set yet. The Legislature sets it by resolution during the session.

Every published deadline

This table follows the BLR's 2027 Regular Session Important Dates sheet, in date order. The rule or statute in the right column is the one the BLR cites.

* The BLR marks these deadlines as ones that may be extended if the House and Senate recess for more than four days.

How long the session can run

The Constitution limits a regular session to 60 calendar days. Two-thirds of the members elected to each house can extend it, and going past 75 calendar days takes three-fourths of each house. For 2027, day 60 falls on Thursday, March 11, and day 75 on Friday, March 26.

In practice, sessions have run longer through extension resolutions and recesses. The 2025 regular session convened January 13, 2025, and adjourned sine die on May 5, 2025.

No adjournment date for 2027 has been set. MultiState's 2027 session chart lists April 28, 2027, for Arkansas. Treat that as an outside estimate, not an official date.

Separately from the joint rule deadlines, the Constitution bars any new bill from being introduced during the last three days of a session (art. 5, § 34).

What happens before January

1. Budget hearings. State agencies present budget requests to the Legislative Council and the Joint Budget Committee through early November. See ALC and JBC in the glossary.
2. The executive budget. The Department of Finance and Administration presents the forecast and the balanced budget at least 60 days before the session.
3. Prefiling. From November 16, legislators can file bills that will be read when the session opens. Each bill gets its number when it is filed.
4. Convening. Both chambers meet at noon on January 11 and begin reading bills and referring them to committees.

Questions

When does the 2027 Arkansas legislative session start?

Monday, January 11, 2027, at 12:00 noon. Arkansas law sets the start of a regular session for the second Monday in January of odd-numbered years.

When can bills be prefiled for 2027?

Starting Monday, November 16, 2026, according to the Bureau of Legislative Research. The statute allows filing from November 15 of the year before a regular session, and November 15, 2026, is a Sunday.

When does the 2027 session end?

No date is set. The Constitution allows 60 calendar days unless the Legislature extends the session, and the final date is set by resolution. MultiState estimates April 28, 2027. The 2025 session adjourned sine die on May 5, 2025.

What is the last day to file a bill in 2027?

The BLR sheet's last scheduled deadline is March 1, 2027, for appropriation bills. Other bills can still be filed after that, subject to the joint rules, until the Constitution's ban on new bills in the last three days of the session.

Can a deadline move?

Yes. The BLR notes that the deadlines for retirement, state and public school insurance, and lottery scholarship bills may be extended if the House and Senate recess for more than four days. Late filing of an appropriation bill is possible with consent of two-thirds of each house.

Is 2027 a regular or a fiscal session?

Regular. Arkansas holds regular sessions in odd-numbered years and fiscal sessions, limited to appropriations unless two-thirds of each house agree, in even-numbered years.