The General Assembly shall define jurisdiction of matters relating to juveniles (persons under eighteen (18) years of age) and matters relating to bastardy and may confer such jurisdiction upon chancery, circuit or probate courts, or upon separate divisions of such courts, or may establish separate juvenile courts upon which such jurisdiction may be conferred, and shall transfer to such courts the jurisdiction over bastardy and juvenile matters now vested in county courts by Section 28 of Article 7 of this Constitution.
Publisher's Notes. This amendment was proposed by Senate Joint Resolution 1 (see Acts 1987, p. 2878) and was adopted at the 1988 general election by a vote of 439,179 for and 258,278 against.
Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution, adopted by voter referendum and effective July 1, 2001, established circuit courts as the trial courts of original jurisdiction of all justiciable matters not otherwise assigned pursuant to the Constitution and specifically provided that "jurisdiction conferred on Circuit Courts established by this Amendment includes all matter previously cognizable by Circuit, Chancery, Probate and Juvenile Courts . . . ".