LITTLE ROCK—Making a call or sending text messages with a hand-held cell phone while behind the wheel would be a crime in Arkansas under a legislator’s proposal.

Rep. Ray Kidd, D-Jonesboro, filed a bill Wednesday prohibiting the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. The proposal would allow the use of hands-free cell phones and would exempt law enforcement, firefighters and emergency workers who are performing their jobs.

Arkansas House members last year rejected a bill that would have prohibited drivers under 18 from using a cell phone while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. The measure had previously won Senate approval.