Title 14, Local Government

(a) Upon the petition of all the owners of the record title as reflected by the deed records in the office of the circuit clerk and ex officio recorder of the pertinent county of real property in any territory, it shall be the duty of the county court to:(1) Lay off into an impro…

(a) (1) Upon the filing of a petition, it shall be the duty of the county clerk to present the petition to the county judge.(2) (A) The judge shall thereupon set a date and time, not more than sixty (60) days and not less than thirty (30) days after the date of the presentation o…

(a) (1) (A) Within thirty (30) days after their appointment, the members of a board of commissioners shall take and file with the county clerk their oath of office, in which they shall swear to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Ark…

(a) When the owners of two-thirds (⅔) in assessed value of the real property located within any district shall sign a petition stating that the petitioners believe it to be in the best interest of the district that the board, or any member thereof, be removed and shall file it wi…

(a) The board shall form plans relative to the acceptance, purchase, or construction of the improvement. (b) To that end, the board may employ such engineers, attorneys, and other assistants as it may find necessary and shall file copies of all pertinent reports and actions by it…

(1) Any district may be organized for any one (1) or more of the following purposes:(1) To purchase, accept as a gift, or construct a waterworks system or betterments, improvements, and extensions to such waterworks system, either within or without the boundaries of the district …

(a) Any district, in aid to and furtherance of the purposes prescribed in § 14-93-110, shall have the authority to hire managers and other employees and to pay their salaries incident to the operation and maintenance of any of the improvements authorized in this chapter. It shall…

Each district shall be a body corporate with power to sue and to be sued, and it shall have a corporate seal.

(a) (1) (A) All districts organized under this chapter shall have the right of eminent domain in order that they may carry out the purposes of their creation.(B) A district under this chapter shall not have the right of eminent domain to condemn rights-of-way outside the boundari…

Any land that may be acquired by any district organized under this chapter may be sold by the board thereof for the price and on the terms it deems best.

All cases involving the validity of districts or the assessment of benefits and all suits to foreclose the lien or taxes shall be deemed matters of public interest and shall be advanced and disposed of at the earliest possible moment, and all appeals from them must be taken and p…

(a) (1) In the event that the board shall have voted to accept any offer of gift, shall have voted to purchase any improvement, or shall have voted to construct any improvement, it shall thereupon appoint an assessor to assess the benefits which will accrue to the real property w…

(a) (1) The assessment shall be filed with the county clerk.(2) (A) The secretary of the board shall thereupon give notice of its filing by publication once a week for two (2) weeks in a newspaper published and having a bona fide circulation in the county.(B) This notice may be i…

(a) The board may, not more often than once a year, require the assessor to reassess the benefits in the district. However, in the event the district shall have incurred any indebtedness or issued bonds, the total amount of assessed benefits shall never be diminished. (b) The rea…

(a) (1) The board of the district shall, at the same time that the assessment of benefits is equalized or at any time thereafter, enter upon its records an order which shall have all the force of a judgment, providing that there shall be assessed upon the real property of the dis…

The assessment of the benefits shall bear interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum from the time it is equalized. However, the interest need not be calculated until it is necessary to do so to avoid exceeding the total amount of benefits and interest, or the interest m…

(a) (1) When the board shall make the levy of taxes, it shall be the duty of the assessor to extend the amount levied and set it opposite each benefit assessed in a column marked “Annual Collection”.(2) (A) It shall be the duty of the county clerk of the county to extend the taxe…

(a) If the tax first levied shall prove insufficient to pay the bonds, both the principal and interest, issued by the board on account of an improvement as provided in this chapter, as it shall become due and payable, the board shall, from time to time, make such further levies u…

(a) All taxes levied under the terms of this chapter shall be payable in installments at the same time as other state, county, and city taxes are paid. (b) Delinquencies. (1) If any taxes levied by the board under this chapter are not paid at maturity, the county tax collector sh…

(a) (1) In order to meet preliminary expenses and to finance the cost of the improvements to be accomplished with cost incidental to the improvements and to the issuance of the bonds, the board may issue negotiable notes or bonds of the district and may pledge and mortgage all as…

Bonds, and the interest thereon, shall be exempt from all state, county, and municipal taxes, including income, property, and inheritance taxes.

(a) (1) All bonds issued under the terms of this chapter shall be secured by a lien on all real property in the district.(2) (A) The board shall see to it that a tax is levied annually and collected under the provisions of this chapter, so long as it may be necessary to pay any b…

(a) (1) After all bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, including interest, have been paid in full, then a district by unanimous vote of the board may be dissolved and all future levies and assessments cancelled, the board relieved from further duties, and the surplus…

(a) In case, for any reason, the improvement contemplated by any district organized under this chapter is not made, the preliminary expense shall be a first lien upon all the land in the district and shall be paid by a levy of a tax thereon. (b) The levy shall be made by the chan…

If the petition for formation of the district provides therefor or the owners of real property in the district agree thereto, then a district shall not cease to exist upon the acquiring, construction, or completion of the improvement, but shall continue to exist for the purpose o…

(a) In those cases where improvement districts have been organized under this chapter or any consolidation of districts organized under this chapter with one another or with suburban or municipal improvement districts, either for furnishing of water or sewer services, or both, an…

(a) Where there are contiguous or adjacent districts organized under this chapter or under the suburban improvement district laws or the municipal improvement district laws for either water or sewer services, or both, it shall be permissible for all or any two (2) or more of thes…

(a) All districts organized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for the purposes of constructing waterworks, sewers, gas pipelines, or telephone lines shall have the authority to permit lands outside the boundaries of the district to connect to these improvements and trans…

(a) (1) All districts organized under this chapter shall have the authority to permit lands outside the boundaries of the district to be annexed to the district.(2) Annexation shall be permissible only for the purpose of providing improvements to the property to be annexed for pu…