Title 18 — Property

(a) In addition to the purposes for which municipalities are now authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain, cities of the first class and cities of the second class are authorized to exercise such power for the purpose of acquiring real property or interests in real prop…

(a) A municipality operating a waterworks system under the provisions of this subchapter shall have the right to acquire any property useful for municipal waterworks purposes by following the eminent domain proceedings set forth in this subchapter. (b) A municipality's right of e…

For the purpose of making investigations, surveys, tests, and measurements, a municipality is authorized to enter upon any property by its agents, employees, or contractors. However, the municipality shall be liable for any damages to the owner's property resulting from its acts.

(a) (1) When the operating authority determines to condemn property, it shall file an application in the circuit court of the county where any portion of the property to be condemned is situated, and proceedings had in the court shall apply to all property described in the applic…

(a) At the trial of the cause, a jury shall assess the amount of damages the applicant shall pay for the property taken in the proceedings. (b) Thereafter, a judgment shall be entered stating that title to the property shall vest in the applicant upon payment to the clerk of the …

If any power, oil, or gas line or other public utility facility shall be flooded by an impounding lake, the property may be condemned if the operating authority of the municipal waterworks system determines the existence of the facility is inconsistent with the waterworks' requir…

(1) Water pipelines, with appurtenances, may be constructed and maintained:(1) Across and under lands and waters of the state, but the ordinary use of the lands and waters shall not be unduly obstructed thereby; and(2) (A) Under, across, and along public highways, roads, streets,…

(a) If any portion of a state or county road will lie below the high-water mark of an impounding lake, the operating authority of the municipal waterworks system shall have the right to flood the road. (b) However, if the state or the county determines that a replacement road is …

(a) (1) An operating authority of a municipal waterworks system shall file a notice of intent to condemn in the circuit court of the county where a cemetery or graves are situated if the operating authority determines that:(A) Land occupied by the cemetery or by the graves will b…

(a) (1) When the determination of questions in controversy in the eminent domain proceedings authorized in this subchapter is, in the opinion of the operating authority of the municipal waterworks, likely to retard the progress of the project, the municipality shall so state in i…

(a) If a municipality shall enter upon property which it has the right to acquire by condemnation proceedings without commencing condemnation proceedings, the owner of the property shall have the right to commence condemnation proceedings against the municipality at any time befo…

The right-of-way provided for under this section and §§ 18-15-502 — 18-15-509 shall be construed to include all lands necessary for dams and the backwater resulting therefrom, levees, approaches, abutments, canals, reservoirs, powerhouses, and other purposes incident to the busin…

No action to condemn the right-of-way over, upon, or along any street or alley in any city or incorporated town shall be instituted or maintained by an electric utility as against any city or incorporated town.

(a) (1) (A) An electric utility organized or domesticated under the laws of this state for the purpose of generating, transmitting, distributing, or supplying electricity to or for the public for compensation or for public use may construct, operate, and maintain such lines of wi…

(a) If an electric utility, having surveyed and located its line under the power conferred by this section, §§ 18-15-501 — 18-15-503, and §§ 18-15-505 — 18-15-509, fails to obtain, by agreement with the owner of the property through which the line may be located, the right-of-way…

In case of infants or persons of unsound mind, when no legal representative or guardian appears in their behalf at the hearing, it shall be the duty of the court to appoint a guardian ad litem who shall represent their interests for all purposes.

It shall be the duty of the court to impanel a jury of twelve (12) persons, as in other civil cases, to ascertain the amount of compensation which the electric utility shall pay, and the matter shall proceed and be determined as other civil causes.

(a) (1) The amount of damages to be paid the owner of the lands for the right-of-way for the use of the electric utility shall be determined and assessed irrespective of any other benefit that the owner may receive from any improvement proposed by the electric utility.(2) (A) If …

(a) When the determination of questions in controversy in the proceedings is likely to retard the progress of work on or the business of the electric utility, the court or judge in vacation shall designate an amount of money to be deposited by the electric utility, subject to the…

A person who destroys or injures the wire, cable, pole, dam, reservoir, canal, power house, machinery, or appliances therein of the electric utility is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one tho…

(a) Every company authorized to construct hydroelectric dams in the State of Arkansas, when it becomes expedient or necessary to acquire a right-of-way for the purpose of constructing a railroad for use in connection with or to facilitate the construction of the dam, the companie…

The business of generating electricity, transmitting electricity, distributing electricity, or supplying electricity to or for the public for compensation or for public use is declared to be in the public interest.

(a) (1) As used in this subchapter, “electric utility” means a public utility, as defined in § 23-1-101, that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, selling, or furnishing electricity or anoth…

(a) All municipal corporations in this state and all corporations, including not-for-profit corporations and water associations, which supply any town, city, or village in this state, or the inhabitants thereof, with water, or which supply water to rural customers or consumers, a…

(a) When a corporation in the construction of its waterworks, in extending its waterworks, or in making new lines of work shall deem it necessary, it may, as provided in this subchapter, draw water from any river, lake, creek, spring branch, or spring by means of pipes, ditches, …

(1) Whenever a corporation proposes to construct or extend the work or proposes to extend its line of works so as to connect with any river, lake, creek, spring branch, or spring and direct the water of any river, lake, creek, spring branch, or spring or body of water within its …

(a) (1) The municipal corporation or other corporation so intending and desiring to condemn, take, and use the real estate may present to the circuit court in and for the county in which the lands so proposed to be taken, condemned, and used are situated, a petition signed by the…

(a) The further proceedings in the matter of assessment of damages and the making of deposits to secure the owner shall be the same as is now prescribed by law in reference to condemnation proceedings by railroad, telegraph, and telephone corporations, except that the measure of …

Appeals may be taken by any party interested from the assessment and allotment of damages under the provisions of this subchapter.

(1) A person shall be guilty of a violation and fined for each and every offense in any sum not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) if the person shall:(1) Tap the main or supply pipe of any water plant or company without first obtaining the permission of the proper city auth…

The inquest of the jury or the order and permission of the court founded thereupon shall not bar any prosecution or action, which any person would have had in law, had this subchapter not been passed, except for such injuries as were actually foreseen and estimated by the jury.

Any person who shall build or raise any dam or any other stoppage or obstruction in or across any watercourse without first obtaining permission from the proper court, according to law, and shall thereby work any material injury to any other person by overflowing his or her lands…

All dams, stoppages, or obstructions not made according to law shall be deemed to be public nuisances and shall be dealt with accordingly.

By proceeding as provided in this subchapter, any person may erect a dam across any watercourse not being a navigable stream if the person is the proprietor of the land through which the watercourse runs at the point where he or she proposes to erect his or her dam.

(a) If a dam is proposed to be erected pursuant to § 18-15-704, the person proposing to erect the dam, if it is likely to overflow any lands on the stream belonging to other persons, shall file his or her petition for that purpose in the circuit court of the county in which he or…

(a) (1) On filing the petition, it shall be the duty of the court to cause a writ of ad quod damnum to be issued under the seal of the court.(2) The writ shall be directed to the sheriff, commanding him or her to summon twelve (12) fit persons of his or her county to meet at the …

(a) Upon the return of the inquest, the court shall cause the proprietor of the land, one (1) acre of which shall have been prayed for, and the several persons, who may be proprietors of the land found by the inquest returned to be liable to damage, to be summoned to appear in th…

If upon a view of the inquest returned by the sheriff and other evidence, if any shall be produced, it shall appear to the court that the dwelling of the proprietor, or outhouses, curtilages, or gardens thereunto belonging, or orchards, or fields will be overflowed, or that the h…

(a) If upon view it shall appear to the court that none of the evils provided against in § 18-15-708 are likely to ensue, the court shall then consider whether, all circumstances weighed, it is reasonable that the permission to erect the dam as prayed for should be given, and the…

Whenever the dam and mill or other machinery has been destroyed or materially impaired, they shall be rebuilt or repaired within three (3) years thereafter, but if the owner of the dam and mill is an infant, then the usual saving in favor of infants shall be effective.

Any owner of any dam and mill, or other machinery erected by virtue of this subchapter, may raise his or her dam by permission of the court, under and by the same proceedings, rules, and conditions provided in this subchapter.

(a) Any person being the owner in fee simple of the land on one (1) side of a watercourse, including part of the bed of the watercourse at the point where he or she proposes to erect a dam, may erect the dam by proceeding as provided in this subchapter. (b) (1) The person proposi…

Where mills or other machinery are proposed to be built, so as to be propelled by water drawn from lakes through canals cut therefrom, and the intended canal will be cut to pass through the land of other persons, the same procedure shall be pursued as in cases of streams.

If any person or his or her legal representatives to whom permission to erect a dam in virtue of this subchapter has been given shall fail to build, rebuild, or repair the dam, together with the mill or other machinery connected therewith, according to the requisitions of this su…

Nothing in §§ 18-15-802 — 18-15-806 shall prevent a company from making private contracts and purchases of lands from such owners as may be most agreeable to both parties.

(a) (1) Any company formed for the purpose of buying or building and owning one (1) or more steamboats, barges, and flatboats to be used in transporting freight and passengers on any river, lake, bayou, or other navigable stream, shall have the right-of-way, not exceeding two hun…

Any company desiring to avail itself of the benefits of the right-of-way provided for in this subchapter shall petition the county court, or the judge thereof in vacation, of the county in which any lands are situated and over which a right-of-way is desired to appoint a jury of …

(a) When any company shall petition according to the requirements of § 18-15-803, the county court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall make an order appointing the jury immediately. (b) In the order, the jury shall be directed to ascertain and report to the court or judge, w…

(a) (1) When any jury reports, as provided in § 18-15-804, it shall be the duty of the judge to cause the company to be notified that the report has been made.(2) If the company shall deposit, within fifteen (15) days after receiving the notice, with the county clerk the full amo…

(a) When any lands shall have been so appraised and valued, when a due report of the appraisement has been made, and when the amount of money has been deposited with the clerk and ordered to be paid as provided in § 18-15-805, it shall be the duty of the judge to make an order up…