Title 14 — Local Government

(a) (1) (A) Except for those counties that operate principally on a scholastic year, or on a part-time basis, or where salaries or personal services are specifically established for a period less than one (1) year, all salaries established by the General Assembly or the governing…

(a) As used in this section, “certified county coroner” means a county coroner who has obtained a certificate of satisfactory participation and completion of medicolegal death investigation training from the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training under § 14…

(a) If the county judge and county official responsible for county payroll make the request, the quorum court by majority vote of the entire body may assign the duties relating to payroll and jury duty to a qualified private person or entity if the quorum court finds the assignme…

(a) County Officers. There shall be elected, until otherwise determined by law, in each of the several counties of this state the following county officers:(1) County Judge. (A) The county judge shall:(i) Perform the administrative and executive functions and duties, and such add…

(a) County Officers. The qualified electors of each county in this state, at the time of each regular gubernatorial election, shall elect until otherwise provided by law all county officers for the term of four (4) years and until their successors are elected and qualified. (b) Q…

All county, county quorum court district, and township officers shall be bonded as prescribed by law.

Each county, justice of the peace, and township officer, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his or her office, shall take and subscribe to the oath prescribed in the Arkansas Constitution for officers.

(a) County Officers. All county officers shall be commissioned by the Governor in a manner prescribed by law. (b) (1) Quorum Court District and Township Officers. All township and county quorum court district officers, except constables, shall be commissioned by the Governor in a…

(a) All county, county quorum court district, and township officers shall reside within their respective townships, districts, and counties. (b) An office shall be deemed vacant if a county officer removes his or her legal residence from the county or if a district or township of…

(a) The county court shall determine the location of the office of the various county, county quorum court district, and township officers. (b) Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed to compel the county court to provide justices of the peace, constables, coroners, …

(1) A county elective, county quorum court district, or township office is vacant if any one (1) of the following conditions exists:(1) The incumbent fails to meet the qualifications for office prescribed by law as evidenced by failure to be commissioned;(2) The incumbent refuses…

(a) Conditions. The quorum court of each county shall declare a county, county quorum court district, or township office vacant where conditions of vacancy exist as demonstrated in the following manner:(1) Upon receipt of certification that a condition of vacancy exists as eviden…

(a) (1) County Elective Offices. Vacancies in all county elective offices shall be filled by the county quorum court within thirty (30) days of the declaration of the vacancy through the process of resolution as prescribed by law.(2) Eligibility Requirements and Term of Office. (…

The circuit court shall have jurisdiction, upon information, presentment, or indictment, to remove any county or township officer from office for incompetency, corruption, gross immorality, criminal conduct, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office.

No officer of any county, county quorum court district, or township shall receive from county funds, directly or indirectly, for salary, wages, and perquisites more than the amount appropriated by the respective quorum court for each respective office per annum in par funds and p…

All public funds coming into the possession of any officer of the county shall be remitted to the county treasury in a manner prescribed by law.

(a) (1) (A) For a constable to have access to information from the Arkansas Crime Information Center:(i) He or she shall satisfactorily complete the constable certification course provided by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training; and (ii) Each year af…

(a) The power to change county boundaries is inherent in the General Assembly, subject to express constitutional restrictions. (b) (1) No county now established shall be reduced to an area of less than six hundred square miles (600 sq. mi.) nor to less than five thousand (5,000) …

Alteration of county boundaries may be initiated by the General Assembly or by a petition to the General Assembly by persons whose rights and interests would be affected by the boundary change.

(a) (1) (A) A petition signed by not less than fifteen percent (15%) of the legal voters residing in the areas to be affected by a proposed county boundary change may be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration.(B) A petition to form a new county shall be preceded by a…

(1) Petitions for the alteration of county boundaries shall be accompanied by the following documentation:(1) (A) A survey of the proposed boundary alterations, except where common boundaries are being dissolved.(B) The survey shall be performed by a professional surveyor as defi…

All costs of petitions, surveys, and mapping shall be borne by the petitioners.

All property, bonded indebtedness, and outstanding indebtedness of counties affected by a change in boundaries shall be apportioned by the General Assembly.

(a) A “county seat” shall be defined as the principal site for the conducting of county affairs and maintaining records of the various courts. (b) Nothing in this section, however, shall be construed as a limitation on a county to maintain several sites throughout the county for …

(a) Unless for the purpose of the temporary location of county seats in the formation of new counties, it shall be unlawful to establish or change any county seat in this state without the consent of a majority of the qualified voters of the county to be affected by the change; n…

(a) Whenever fifteen percent (15%) of the legal voters of any county in this state shall join in a petition to the county court of the county for the change or removal of the county seat, the county court shall order an election to be held at the voting places in the county direc…

The ballots of the voters shall have written or printed upon them the words “FOR CHANGE”, or “AGAINST CHANGE”, meaning for or against change from the existing county seat location, and the words “FOR ….” (one of the localities allowed by the act to be voted for, naming and descri…

(a) Where a majority of the qualified voters of the county have voted in favor of the change from the existing location and are in a majority agreement as to the location in cases where more than one (1) location is proposed, the county court shall proceed to carry into effect th…

Before proceeding to carry into effect the will of a majority voting on the issue of changing a county seat, the county court shall require the vendor or donor of the new location to deliver a good and sufficient deed, conveying to the county the land or location so sold or donat…

(a) The temporary location for the county seat of any new county shall be fixed by the act of the General Assembly authorizing the formation and organization of the new county. (b) The temporary location shall be considered the permanent and established location unless changed as…

(a) (1) (A) Whenever, due to an emergency, it becomes imprudent, inexpedient, or impossible to conduct the affairs of local government at the regular or usual place, the governing body of each political subdivision of this state may meet at any place in the county whether within …

(a) Each county of the state shall divide its land area into convenient county quorum court districts in a manner and at times prescribed by the General Assembly. (b) The county court of each county in this state shall have the authority to divide the county into convenient towns…

The number of convenient quorum court districts to be established in each county shall be determined according to the following population categories:Click here to view table. Click here to view table.

(a) The county board of election commissioners in each county shall be responsible for the apportionment of the county into quorum court districts. Until otherwise changed in the method set forth in this subchapter, the districts of each county shall consist of the territory of t…

The Board of Apportionment shall provide each of the respective county boards of election commissioners with the appropriate and necessary federal decennial census information, not less than ninety (90) days prior to the date established for apportionment of county quorum court d…

(a) Not later than the date set for the apportionment of county quorum court districts, the county board of election commissioners shall file its report with the clerk of the county court, setting forth the district boundaries and the number of inhabitants within them. (b) Within…

Original jurisdiction of any suit to contest the apportionment made for county quorum court districts by a county board of election commissioners is vested in the circuit court of the affected county. Any such contest shall be filed with the circuit court within thirty (30) days …

The clerk of the county court, within seven (7) calendar days following the expiration of the time period provided for the filing of contest of an apportionment plan, shall transmit to the Secretary of State a certified copy of the record made of an apportionment plan.

A county government is a body politic and corporate created by the General Assembly and subject to its exercise of power. However, county governments shall possess legislative powers not denied by the Arkansas Constitution or by law. As a corporate body, county governments shall …

(a) Division. The powers of the county governments of the State of Arkansas shall be divided into three (3) distinct departments, each of them to be confined to a separate body, to wit: Those that are legislative to one, those that are executive to a second, and those that are ju…

(a) It is determined by the General Assembly that:(1) The present structure of county government does not meet the needs of every county in the state;(2) County government can be made more responsive to the wishes of the people through selected structural changes and consolidatio…

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Abandon” means to desert, surrender, forsake, or to give up absolutely;(2) “Consolidate” means to unite offices into one (1) office;(3) “Create” means to bring into being, to cause to exist, to produce;(4)…

(a) Within the purposes of this chapter, the term “elective county office” shall mean any office created under the provisions of Arkansas Constitution Article 7, § 19, as amended by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 24, § 3, and Arkansas Constitution, Article 7, § 46. (b) The elec…

(1) Offices expressly excluded from the provisions of this subchapter are:(1) The judge of the county court created pursuant to Arkansas Constitution, Article 7, § 28, such office being an “elective county office” but not deemed separable from the county court which serves as a p…

(a) Each county quorum court may adopt, by ordinance, any one (1) or more of the alternative county government organizational provisions established in this subchapter if the electors have approved the adoption of the proposed provisions by majority vote at a general election. (b…

(a) All proposals for alternative county government organization adopted by a county quorum court through ordinance for referral to the electors, or an initiative petition referring an alternative organization proposal to the electors, shall be based on a comprehensive analysis o…

(a) Initiation. Any justice of the peace of each county may propose the initiation of an analysis for alternative county organization through the introduction and passage of an ordinance, or the initiation may be accomplished by an initiative petition of the electors. (b) Conduct…

(a) Services to be Maintained. A county government serving as a political subdivision of the state for the more convenient administration of justice is compelled by law to provide certain services relating to judicial administration, law enforcement, and other matters. No county …

(a) All questions on alternative county organization as proposed by ordinance of the county quorum court, or as proposed by initiated petitions filed by electors of the county pursuant to Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 7, shall be submitted to the electors of a county only at t…

(a) An affirmative majority vote by the electors voting on the adoption of an alternative county organization plan shall be deemed the will of the people. (b) The election of any candidate during the same general election for any office consolidated, abandoned, or established as …