Title 14, Local Government

No dissolution of a district under the terms of this act shall impair or deny any creditor of the district the right to the collection of its bona fide and valid indebtedness existing against the district, but the creditors of the district shall be subject to the provisions of th…

(a) All claims against the district existing at the time the county court shall make an order for the dissolution of the district must be presented to the commissioners duly itemized and verified as is required in actions of account. If not presented to the commissioners of the d…

(a) All drainage districts which are dissolved or abolished pursuant to the terms of this act shall nevertheless be continued in existence for the purpose of prosecuting and defending suits by or against the district and for the purpose of enabling the district to settle, close i…

(a) When the indebtedness owing by a district dissolved under the provisions of this act shall have been determined, it shall be the duty of the commissioners to certify to the county court their determination as to a tax levy upon the real property of the district which is suffi…

(a) The board of commissioners of any drainage district in this state, when they may deem it inadvisable or impracticable and not for the best interests of the property owners of the district to construct the improvements contemplated by the organization of the district, may, whe…

(a) As used in this act, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Real property” shall have the same meaning as when used in § 26-1-101 et seq. and shall embrace all railroads and tramroads within the district;(2) “Ditch” includes branch or lateral ditches, tile drains, levees,…

(a) (1) The board of commissioners of any drainage district in this state, when they may deem it inadvisable or impracticable and not for the best interests of the property owners of the district for the district to continue in operation, when all indebtedness of the district has…

(a) This act shall apply to the organization of districts, the main object of which is the construction of levees. (b) This act shall not repeal the drainage laws now in force, but it is an alternative system. (c) Drainage districts may be organized under this act or under the st…

(1) The county and circuit court may, at the request of the commissioners of the district, at any time hold special sessions for the purpose of:(1) Acting upon any petition or report; or(2) Making any order in a matter involving any drainage district. (1) Acting upon any petition…

No appeal provided for in this chapter shall be allowed to delay the organization of the district or the progress of the work of improvement.

Any person who obstructs a drain or damages drainage works provided for by this act shall be guilty of a violation and fined one hundred dollars ($100). He or she shall also be liable to the district for double the cost of removing the obstruction or repairing damage.

It is found and declared as a matter of legislative determination that the organization and administration of those drainage districts authorized under this chapter, as amended, as separate and distinct entities and the operation and maintenance of the drainage levees and project…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) In cases where the drainage district contains lands in more than one (1) county, “county court”, “county judge”, and “county clerk” shall be construed to mean “circuit court”, “circuit judge”, and “circuit clerk”, respectively, of the judicial c…

This subchapter shall be construed to be cumulative to existing laws relating to drainage districts and shall not repeal any existing law unless the law is in direct conflict with this subchapter. It is the purpose of this subchapter to permit the merger by one (1) or more draina…

(a) Any drainage district may merge all its required duties, obligations, and purposes whereby it carries out drainage projects with the duties, obligations, and purposes required of any other drainage district if it follows the terms and procedures of this subchapter in order to…

(a) No drainage district coming within the provisions of this subchapter shall exercise any of its powers conferred by this subchapter or merge the operation and maintenance of a levee or project for which the district was originally created with those of another drainage distric…

(a) Upon the merger's becoming effective, the new board of directors of the merged drainage district shall consist of one (1) member from each of the merging districts' boards of directors to be selected by each board and named in its resolution of merger, but in no event shall a…

(a) In order to discharge the obligations for which the district was originally created and those which it assumed under the terms of this subchapter, the board of directors of any merged drainage district under this subchapter is authorized and empowered:(1) To exercise any and …

(a) Any drainage district which shall merge the duties, obligations, and purposes for which it was originally created with those of another district under the provisions of this subchapter shall merge all assets held by it and arising from any projects and shall also assume all l…

No merger of a district under the terms of this subchapter shall impair or deny any creditor of the merging districts the right to the collection of its bona fide and valid indebtedness existing against the districts, but the creditors of the districts shall be subject to the pro…

(a) All claims against the district existing at the time of the merger of the district shall be presented to the board of directors duly itemized and verified as is required in actions of account. If not presented to the board of directors of the district within six (6) months fr…

(a) It shall be the duty of the county court to enter upon its records an order appointing an engineer to be selected by the petitioners when three (3) or more owners of real property within a proposed district shall:(1) Petition the county court to establish a drainage district …

(a) The county clerk shall thereupon give notice by publication for two (2) weeks in some newspaper published and having a general circulation in the county calling upon all persons owning property within the district to appear before the court on some day to be fixed by the cour…

(a) If land in more than one (1) county is embraced in the proposed district, the application shall be addressed to the circuit court in which the largest portion of the lands lie, and all proceedings shall be had in the circuit court. (b) The circuit court shall apportion all co…

(a) If, upon hearing provided for in §§ 14-121-201 — 14-121-203, the petition is presented to the county court signed by a majority, either in numbers or in acreage or in value of the holders of real property within the proposed district, praying that the improvement be made, it …

(a) The order of the county court establishing the district shall have all of the force of a judgment. (b) Any owner of real property within the district may appeal from the judgment within twenty (20) days after the judgment has been made, but if no appeal is taken within that t…

All cases in which there arises a question of the validity of the organization of drainage districts shall be advanced as matters of public interest and heard in all courts at the earliest practicable moment.

(1) Any district organized under the existing statutes may become a drainage district under the terms of this act as follows:(1) If three (3) owners of real property within the district shall petition the county court to constitute them a drainage district under the terms hereof,…

All drainage districts created by special acts are made drainage districts under Acts 1909, No. 279, with all the powers conferred by the latter and with all the liabilities and restrictions thereby imposed. However, nothing in this section shall be construed as taking away from …

(a) When the county court has established any such drainage district, it shall appoint three (3) owners of real property within the county to act as commissioners. (b) Each of these commissioners shall take the oath of office required by Arkansas Constitution, Article 19, § 20, a…

(a) Whenever a majority in value of the owners of real property in any drainage district in this state which was established pursuant to the provisions of special acts of the General Assembly, but which were, by the provisions of § 14-121-208, brought under the provisions of §§ 1…

(a) In case of a district lying in more than one (1) county, three (3) commissioners shall be appointed, and in all cases the commissioners must be owners of real property within the district. (b) However, where a district embraces lands in three (3) or more counties, the court m…

The board shall select one (1) of their number as chairman, and a majority shall constitute a quorum.

(a) The boards of commissioners under this chapter shall have control of the construction of the improvements in their districts. (b) (1) A board may advertise in local papers or papers published in other states for proposals for doing any work by contract.(2) Work that exceeds f…

All drainage districts in the State of Arkansas, whether created by special act or otherwise, are authorized, when considered practicable by the board of commissioners or directors of any such district, to make any necessary surveys for the securing of federal aid and assistance …

(a) If improvements are undertaken in cooperation with the United States, the board may enter into an agreement providing for the construction of the works of improvement and awarding of contracts therefor, to be by, and under the control and supervision of, the United States or …

(a) The commissioners of any drainage district organized under the provisions of §§ 14-121-101 — 14-121-104, 14-121-201 — 14-121-207, 14-121-301, 14-121-303 — 14-121-305, 14-121-307, 14-121-309 — 14-121-314, 14-121-401 — 14-121-406, 14-121-408, 14-121-411, 14-121-412, 14-121-420 …

(a) If the commissioners deem best, they shall deposit the funds of the district in a solvent bank which will pay interest at not less than three percent (3%) nor exceeding four percent (4%) and shall give a good bond, conditioned that the funds shall be safely kept and paid out …

(a) The treasurer shall:(1) Pay out no money, save upon the order of the board and upon a warrant signed by the chairman of the board;(2) Be allowed a commission not exceeding one percent (1%) upon all sums lawfully paid out, to be fixed by the board; and(3) Give special bond in …

(a) The commission shall also keep the original itemized bills and accounts of all financial transactions and all warrants which have been paid. Each warrant shall state on its face the service for which it was rendered, the person to whom paid, and the amount of the warrant. (b)…

The commissioners of drainage districts appointed under § 14-121-301 shall have power to employ attorneys as needed by the district and to fix their compensation.

No member of any board of improvement shall be liable for any damages sustained by anyone in the prosecution of the work under his charge unless it shall be made to appear that he has acted with a corrupt and malicious intent.

(1) The property owners in a drainage district may:(1) Consent to waive the right to resort to courts and may absolutely ratify and confirm what has been done by the board of commissioners and all other officials with reference to the district; and(2) Thereafter, be forever barre…

(a) As soon as the board shall have formed its plans for improvements and shall have ascertained the cost thereof, it shall file the plans with the county clerk. (b) The plans shall be accompanied by:(1) A map showing the location of all main and lateral ditches; and(2) Specifica…

(a) (1) The commissioners shall proceed to assess the lands within the district and shall inscribe in a book the description of each tract of land. They shall assess the value of the benefits to accrue to each tract by reason of the improvement and shall enter such assessment of …

(a) If the commissioners find that other lands not embraced within the boundaries of the district will be affected by the proposed improvement, they shall assess the estimated benefits and damages to the land and shall specially report to the county court the assessment which the…