SB164

Senate Bill 164 authorizes public schools and open-enrollment public charter schools in Arkansas to employ or accept as volunteers school chaplains to provide support services to students, staff, and parents. The bill allows individual school districts to determine their own selection criteria for these chaplains, who are not required to be credentialed by the Department of Education. It mandates that all potential chaplains must undergo statewide and nationwide criminal background checks and a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check, with the costs covered by the school. The legislation also provides legal immunity to chaplains for actions taken within the scope of their duties, excluding acts of malice, willfulness, or deliberate harm. Finally, the bill defines a school chaplain as a member of clergy credentialed by a religious organization that possesses ecclesiastical authority and explains the standards for such religious organizations.