Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 317, barring transgender students from school restrooms matching their gender identity

On March 21, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1156 into law as Act 317, requiring K-12 public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to designate multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower rooms for exclusive use based on a student's sex as listed on their original birth certificate. The law bars transgender students from using facilities that match their gender identity.

The statute imposes minimum $1,000 fines on superintendents, principals, or teachers found noncompliant, and a companion provision requires students on school-sponsored overnight trips to share sleeping quarters only with members of the same birth-certificate sex. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mary Bentley in the House and Sen. Dan Sullivan in the Senate, cleared the 94th General Assembly earlier in March before reaching the governor's desk.

The law was part of a series of measures enacted across states in 2023 restricting transgender students' access to school facilities. By assigning facility use by birth certificate and penalizing educators who do not enforce it, the statute directs public schools to treat transgender students differently on the basis of gender identity.