The Arkansas Supreme Court building in Little Rock. (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the dismissal of a challenge to the state’s new policy eliminating the gender-neutral “X” marker on driver’s licenses and requiring only “M” or “F” to indicate gender.
In March, the Department of Finance and Administration issued an emergency rule rescinding the gender-neutral policy, which had been in place since 2010. The Arkansas Legislative Council’s executive subcommittee approved the emergency rule.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas challenged the emergency rule in Pulaski County Circuit Court, and Judge Patricia James temporarily blocked the rule from going into effect.
Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office appealed James’ ruling. Meanwhile, the full Arkansas Legislative Council implemented the rule on a permanent basis on Aug. 23.
The permanent rule rendered the ACLU’s challenge moot, Deputy Solicitor Dylan Jacobs wrote in an Aug. 30 request for the Supreme Court to send the case back to circuit court with instructions to dismiss the complaint.
ACLU attorneys agreed to the motion because the initial complaint “concerned only the procedure by which the emergency rule was passed,” communications director Megan Bailey said.
The complaint argued that the emergency rule was implemented without documented justification or compliance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, which stipulates a 30-day public notice comment period unless there is an “imminent peril to public health, safety, or welfare” or a need to comply with federal law.
ACLU Legal Director John Williams argued that the Department of Finance and Administration had not proven that any threat to public safety came from allowing people to change the gender marker on their driver’s licenses with no questions asked.
Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson told lawmakers in March that the new rule was meant to prevent threats to law enforcement officers’ safety, though he also said he was not aware of any threats that had occurred over 14 years.
Nearly a dozen Arkansans, many of whom are transgender or nonbinary, urged finance department officials later in June not to permanently reverse the policy because it was not causing any problems or harm. No one spoke for the new rule at the public hearing.
Several Democratic lawmakers voted against the emergency and permanent rules and cited the same reasons, adding that reversing the policy would be hurtful to transgender Arkansans.
Bailey said the ACLU has not yet decided whether to challenge the permanent rule.
Griffin called the Supreme Court’s order “a win for the rule of law” in a statement Thursday.