Title 14 — Local Government

Before an entity undertakes an annexation, consolidation, or detachment proceeding under this chapter, the entity shall coordinate with the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems Office for preparation of legal descriptions and digital mapping for the relevant annexation, consol…

(a) (1) An annexation, consolidation, or detachment action that affects territory under this chapter shall include in its ordinance or resolution the date upon which the annexation, consolidation, or detachment is considered final.(2) An ordinance or resolution that fails to incl…

(a) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Municipal boundary change” means an incorporation, annexation, consolidation, detachment, surrender of charter, revocation of charter, or municipal disincorporation under this subchapter, § 14-38-101 et seq., or § 14-39-101 et seq.(B) “Municip…

(a) (1) (A) Beginning July 1, 1995, when the inhabitants of any city or incorporated town adjoining or contiguous to another smaller municipal corporation of any class in the same county shall desire that the city or incorporated town annex to it or consolidate with it the smalle…

(a) (1) (A) Upon presentation of the petition to the county court by the authorized persons, the court shall at once order and call a special election, to be held in accordance with § 7-11-201 et seq., in both of the municipal corporations on the question of the annexation and th…

(a) At any election held under this subchapter, all qualified electors who are residents of either municipality shall be allowed to vote on the adoption or rejection of the proposed annexation or consolidation and the name of the proposed consolidated municipality. (b) (1) (A) (i…

Any elector shall have the right to test the legality and fairness of the election and the declared results in a proceeding before the circuit court without being required to give bond for costs. However, no such contest shall interfere with the consolidation until finally decide…

(a) As soon as practicable after the annexation, the council of the larger city or incorporated town shall form by ordinance the territory of the smaller municipality into such number of wards as shall seem to be to the best interest of the combined city or incorporated town, or …

(a) The council of the larger city or incorporated town shall cause a plat to be made of the entire city or incorporated town after the annexation thereto and the division into wards of the smaller municipal corporation. (b) (1) A certified copy of the plat shall be filed and rec…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (a)(1)(B) of this section, the city or town council shall call a special election of council members to be held at such times and places as the council may direct pursuant to a proclamation issued by the mayor in accordance with § …

(a) The term of office of all officers, council members, and employees of the smaller municipality and all laws in force in the smaller municipality shall cease upon and after the consolidation. (b) (1) Any mayor who is forced from office because of a merger of two (2) or more mu…

All public property of the smaller municipality shall belong to the consolidated city or incorporated town.

(a) (1) The debts of each municipality owing prior to or at the time of the consolidation shall be paid by the consolidated municipality by appropriating the revenues derived from year to year from the territory and the inhabitants of what was formerly the larger municipality to …

(a) Creditors of either municipal corporation, on account of obligations made prior to consolidation, shall not be paid sooner or shall not be permitted to enforce the collection of their debts sooner against the consolidated city or incorporated town than the separate municipali…

(a) The wards formed out of the territory comprising the former territory of the smaller municipal corporation annexed under the provisions of this subchapter shall always receive betterments and improvements in an amount equal to the amount of revenue derived by the consolidated…

No franchises, contracts, or other obligations of an extraordinary nature, or other than those necessary for the ordinary and usual running of the affairs of either municipal corporation, which have been granted, made, or created by either municipal corporation after the passage …

(a) Whenever any municipal corporation shall desire to throw any portion of the territory lying within its corporate limits outside of the limits and remit it back to the county in which the municipal corporation is situated, it shall be lawful for the council of the municipal co…

(a) After hearing the petition, if the county court shall be satisfied that a majority of the qualified electors of the corporation are in favor of the exclusion of the territory mentioned in the petition from within its limits, or alternatively that the city council has resolved…

(a) After the record shall have been filed and a copy forwarded to the Secretary of State, the territory shall cease to be a part of the municipal corporation. (b) The limits of cities of the first and second class shall not be reduced to an area less than they were on January 1,…

(a) Whenever it appears that the official corporate limits as shown by the records of the Secretary of State for any city or incorporated town have for more than ten (10) years included an area or territory that has not been recognized by city or incorporated town officials and a…

(a) Upon the filing of the petition, the county court shall set a date for hearing thereon, not less than fifteen (15) days nor more than thirty (30) days after the first publication of notice of the filing of the petition. Notice of the filing shall be published once each week f…

Any public utility serving the area detached shall have the right to continue to serve in the detached area on the same basis as service had been previously rendered prior to the action of the city or incorporated town council in adopting the resolution detaching the territory, e…

It is the purpose of this subchapter to assist landowners to obtain municipal services by making the services reasonably available. However, nothing in this subchapter shall relieve a landowner from the obligation to pay regular fees and costs for connecting to services or from t…

(a) (1) A landowner or group of landowners seeking additional municipal services may have its land detached from the municipality in which it is located and annexed into another municipality that borders the land.(2) However, before annexation is allowed, the municipality in whic…

(a) In no event shall the provisions of this subchapter allow a municipality to be split in half or to have any of its land separately encircled, thereby creating an island of that city within the boundaries of another city. (b) Any detachment and annexation occurring that create…

(a) (1) The circuit courts of the state shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear all matters related to this subchapter.(2) The circuit court of the county in which the municipalities are located or, in the event that the municipalities are located in different counties or judic…

(a) All documents produced by landowners, municipalities, or others relating to detachment and annexation as enumerated in this subchapter shall be filed with the circuit clerk with copies served upon the municipality and landowners. (b) (1) The circuit clerk shall establish a sy…

In a municipal services matter under this subchapter, if a city or incorporated town from which the inhabitants detached determines that the scheduled services are available or became available to the detaching inhabitants by the city or incorporated town to which the inhabitants…

In counties having two (2) levying courts or in counties having a population of not less than thirteen thousand two hundred fifty (13,250) and not more than fourteen thousand (14,000) according to the most recent federal census where territory contiguous to the county seat needs …

(a) In any county in this state in which there is more than one (1) judicial district of its county court with a separate levying or quorum court in and for each of the districts, lands lying in one (1) of the districts may be annexed to a city or incorporated town lying in anoth…

(a) When any territory shall have been annexed to any incorporated town or city, it may be, and it is, the duty of the town or city council of the incorporated town or city to attach and incorporate the annexed territory to and in one (1) or more wards of the incorporated town or…

(a) (1) From and after the passage of this subsection, all city-owned parks and city-owned airports in cities of populations between forty thousand (40,000) and eighty thousand (80,000) in counties whose population is one hundred forty thousand (140,000) or over are annexed to th…

(a) The annexation laws of this state do not apply in the area within one-half mile of the boundaries of a state park located in a county with a population in excess of three hundred fifty thousand (350,000) unless:(1) The annexation is approved by a majority of the voters residi…

If a county had issued a permit or approval for construction, operation, or development before a municipal annexation proceeding begins for a project in the area that the municipality intends to annex, the municipality shall honor and give full effect to county permits and approv…

(a) (1) A property owner who has a building that is currently situated upon the boundary line between two (2) municipalities may choose either one (1) of the municipalities as the legal location of the building.(2) When the expansion of a building will result in the expansion's b…

(a) If a municipality states its intent by resolution or ordinance to annex a specifically defined territory or portion of the territory over which it is exercising territorial jurisdiction under § 14-56-413, the municipality shall initiate annexation proceedings within five (5) …

(a) When the boundaries of two (2) municipalities are contiguous to and adjoining one another, and one (1) municipality desires to detach and annex territory in another municipality, then the governing body of the municipality desiring to detach and annex territory may propose an…

(a) (1) Beginning March 1, 2014, and each successive year thereafter, the mayor or city manager of a city or incorporated town shall file annually with the city clerk or recorder, town recorder, and county clerk a written notice describing any annexation elections that have becom…

(a) In all annexations under § 14-40-303 and in accordance with § 14-40-606, after the territory declared annexed is considered part of a city or incorporated town, the inhabitants residing in the annexed portion shall:(1) Have all the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of …

The provisions of this subchapter shall not be construed to give any municipality the authority to annex any portion of another city or incorporated town.

(a) By vote of two-thirds (⅔) of the total number of members making up its governing body, any municipality may adopt an ordinance to annex lands contiguous to the municipality if the lands are any of the following:(1) Platted and held for sale or use as municipal lots;(2) Whethe…

(a) The annexation ordinance shall:(1) Contain an accurate description of the lands desired to be annexed;(2) Include a schedule of the services of the annexing municipality that will be extended to the area within three (3) years after the date the annexation becomes final;(3) F…

(a) If it is alleged that the area proposed to be annexed does not conform to the requirements and standards prescribed in § 14-40-302, a legal action may be filed in the circuit court of the county where the lands lie within thirty (30) days after the election to nullify the ele…

(a) The General Assembly finds that there are areas within adjoining counties that are so necessary to the satisfactory conducting of a city's business that there is a need to annex land lying in the adjoining county into the city. This law will aid the residents to receive neede…

(a) (1) (A) (i) Whenever the incorporated limits of a municipality have completely surrounded an unincorporated area, the governing body of the municipality may propose an ordinance calling for the annexation of the land surrounded by the municipality.(ii) Subdivision (a)(1)(A)(i…

(a) A public hearing shall be conducted within sixty (60) days of the proposal of the ordinance calling for annexation. (b) At least fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality shall publish a legal notice setting out the lega…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(1)(B) of this section, at the next regularly scheduled meeting following the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality proposing annexation may bring the proposed ordinance up for a vote.(B) An ordinance shall not be …

(a) As used in this section, “enclave” means an unincorporated improved or developed area that is enclosed within and bounded on all sides by a single city or incorporated town. (b) Whenever practicable, a city or incorporated town shall annex lands that are contiguous and in a m…

(a) When a majority of the real estate owners of any part of a county contiguous to and adjoining any city or incorporated town desires to be annexed to the city or town, they may apply by attested petition in writing to the county court of the county in which the city or town is…

(a) (1) When the petition shall be presented to the county court, the clerk shall file it, and the court shall set a date for a hearing on the petition.(2) The date for the hearing shall not be less than thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition. (1) When the petition sha…