Title 14, Local Government

(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…

(a) After the hearing, if the county court shall be satisfied that the allegations of the petition were sustained by the proof, if the court shall be satisfied that the requirements for signatures under § 14-40-601 have been complied with, and if the court shall be satisfied that…

(a) (1) No further action shall be taken for a period of thirty (30) days after the order for annexation has been entered. Within that time any person interested may institute a proceeding in the circuit court to have the annexation prevented.(2) (A) If the court or judge hearing…

(a) If no notice under § 14-40-604(b) is given within thirty (30) days from the making of the order of annexation by the county court, the proceeding before the court shall in all things be confirmed, if the city or incorporated town council shall accept by ordinance or resolutio…

As soon as the resolution or ordinance declaring the annexation has been adopted or passed, the territory shall be deemed and taken to be a part and parcel of the limits of the city or incorporated town, and the inhabitants residing therein shall have and enjoy all the rights and…

(a) Within eight (8) years after an annexation proceeding is completed under the provisions of this subchapter and the land remains the boundary of the city or town, the person owning all lands originally annexed into the city or town may be authorized to detach those annexed lan…

(a) As used in this section, “city or town” means:(1) A city of the first class;(2) A city of the second class; and(3) An incorporated town. (1) A city of the first class; (2) A city of the second class; and (3) An incorporated town. (b) (1) Individuals who own property in a coun…

(a) Any person or corporation owning any real estate who shall make any addition of real estate to any incorporated town or city in this state shall be required to file and record a regular plat of it in the office of the circuit clerk and recorder of the county in which the land…

(a) It shall be the duty of the clerk of the circuit court when any map or plat of any addition to any city or incorporated town in the State of Arkansas has been filed in his or her office as required by § 14-41-201(a) to forthwith certify under his or her hand and seal of offic…

(a) It shall be the duty of the county clerk on receiving the certificate provided for in § 14-41-202(a) to file it in his or her office. Thereafter, before he or she shall deliver the tax books to the assessor, he or she shall enter the number of each lot and block on the tax bo…

This subchapter shall not apply to any part of an addition or division less than one-third (⅓) of the whole as shown by the original plat filed in the office of the circuit clerk.

The owner of any addition or division to any city or incorporated town in this state where no lots or blocks, or any part thereof, have been sold and the streets and alleys have not been used by the public for the last seven (7) years prior to the filing of the petition shall hav…

If at any time one (1) person owns, or two (2) or more persons own jointly or as tenants in common, or a corporation owns all the lots and blocks in any addition or division to any city or incorporated town in this state, the streets and alleys of which have not been used by the …

The owners of any part of an addition or division shall have the right to have it reduced to acreage, as in the cases provided in §§ 14-41-302 and 14-41-303. However, the lots and blocks shall be contiguous. No streets and alleys shall be included in the order reducing the parts …

(a) Upon the filing of a petition, the county court shall immediately cause notice to be published for two (2) consecutive weeks by at least two (2) insertions in some newspaper published in the county having a bona fide circulation therein, stating the substance contained in the…

(a) The county court shall hear the petition at the first day of the court held after publication of the notice filed under § 14-41-305 if not continued for cause and upon proper showing shall order that the addition or division, or part thereof, be reduced to acreage. (b) If the…

Any person aggrieved by an order under § 14-41-306 may appeal to the circuit court in the manner provided by law for appeals from the county court.

Any municipal corporation in which, under its former organization prior to March 9, 1875, by any law or charter regulating any literary, charitable, or benevolent institution, vested any power of appointing officers of supervision or control, shall continue to hold and possess th…

The corporate authority of cities that are organized shall be vested in one (1) principal officer, to be called the mayor, and one (1) board of council members, to be called the city council, together with such other officers as are mentioned in this subtitle or may be created un…

(a) A vacancy of a municipal office in a municipality, regardless of the classification or form of government of the municipality, shall be filled according to one (1) of the following methods:(1) (A) At the first council meeting after the declaration of the vacancy, the governin…

(a) All appointments of officers by any council of a municipal corporation shall be made viva voce, and the concurrence of a like majority shall be required. (b) On the votes resulting in the appointment, the names of those voting and for whom they voted shall be recorded, and al…

(a) All officers elected or appointed in any municipal corporation shall take the oath or affirmation prescribed for officers by the Arkansas Constitution. (b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, the officers shall take their oaths before:(A) The Secreta…

(a) (1) A council member or elected official of a municipal corporation, during the term for which he or she has been elected or one (1) year thereafter, shall not be appointed to any municipal office that was created or the emoluments of which have been increased during the time…

(a) (1) It is unlawful for any official or employee of any municipal corporation of this state to receive or accept any water, gas, electric current, or other article or service from the municipal corporation, or any public utility operating therein, without paying for it at the …

(a) (1) (A) If the mayor, member of the city council, or any other elective officer of any city of the first class or second class or incorporated town in this state shall wilfully and knowingly fail, refuse, or neglect to execute, or cause to be executed, any of the laws or ordi…

(a) (1) Mayors in cities of the first class and second class and incorporated towns shall have the power to appoint and remove all department heads, including city and town marshals when an ordinance has been passed making city and town marshals appointed, unless the city or town…

(a) (1) All cities of the second class and incorporated towns within the State of Arkansas may elect a municipal attorney at the time of the election of other officers of these cities of the second class and incorporated towns, if it is not established by ordinance that the offic…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, the salary of an official of a city of the first class, a city of the second class, or an incorporated town may be increased during the term for which the official has been elected or appointed and may be decr…

Any municipality incorporated under the laws of the State of Arkansas shall have the power, by a majority vote of its city council or legislative body, to provide for establishing and maintaining a system of social security or old age pensions, or both, for its employees that are…

(a) (1) It is lawful for a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer police officer in any city of the first class, city of the second class, or incorporated town in this state to seek election to, and if elected, to serve as a member of the city council or other governing body of the…

(a) No municipality shall hereafter establish any retirement benefit system or plan for members of the governing body of the city or town except cities of the first class, cities of the second class, or incorporated towns which had established such a system or plan before July 3,…

Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any employee of a city of the first class, city of the second class, or incorporated town, and any elected official of a city of the first class, city of the second class, or incorporated town who is entitled by an act of the General…

(a) Upon petition by any citizen of the municipality or the prosecuting attorney to the circuit court having jurisdiction, any municipal officer who pleads guilty or nolo contendere to or is found guilty of a federal offense involving embezzlement of public funds, bribery, forger…

(a) A person who holds an elected office in a municipality for a term of four (4) years in a mayor-council form of government is subject to removal from the office by the electors qualified to vote for a successor of the incumbent. (b) The procedure for the removal of a person ho…

(a) (1) (A) Except for those municipalities 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 gov…

(a) If authorized by the governing body of the municipality, reimbursements to municipal employees for the purchase of meals and meal tips shall be:(1) Based on the actual expense incurred; or(2) (A) Made on a per diem basis.(B) A per diem reimbursement under subdivision (a)(2)(A…

(a) As used in this section, “municipality” means a city of the first class, a city of the second class, or an incorporated town. (b) (1) A municipality may develop, implement, and maintain a catastrophic leave program by ordinance.(2) A municipal employee may irrevocably donate …

(a) The general election for the election of municipal officials in all cities and incorporated towns shall be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. (b) All municipal officials of the cities and towns of the State of Arkansas shall take office January 1 of t…

(a) Special elections of mayors of cities of the first class and cities of the second class shall be held at such time and place as the council directs in accordance with § 7-11-101 et seq. (b) In all cities there shall be a place appointed in each ward for holding elections, exc…

(a) The returns of all municipal corporations shall be made to the county board of election commissioners of the county in which the corporation is situated and shall be opened by them within three (3) days after their receipt. (b) (1) The election board shall count the vote as i…

(a) In all municipal elections in municipalities situated in two (2) or more counties, a candidate for municipal office shall file for office with the county clerk of the county with the highest population of the municipality based upon the most recent city federal census. The co…

(a) (1) The city or town council of any city or town with the mayor-council form of government may request the county party committees of recognized political parties under the laws of the state to conduct party primaries for municipal offices for the forthcoming year by resoluti…

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to limit the powers of municipalities which shall continue to operate under the general laws of the State of Arkansas.

(a) (1) The governing body of any city of the first or second class, upon passage of a municipal ordinance, may create a commission to frame a charter for the city.(2) The commission shall be appointed by the governing body and shall be composed of not less than nine (9) members,…