Municipal Law in Arkansas - Home
Arkansas Municipal League
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Municipal Law
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Questions and
Answers
Revised May 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Military Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
DISCLAIMERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT . . . . . . . . 3
Bidding Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
BOUNDARY CHANGES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . 4
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
COURTS AND LAW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Street Turnback Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Lawsuits Against Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Bond on City Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
District Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Taxes and Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
County Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
FIRE PROTECTION AND DEPARTMENTS . . . . . 21
ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS . . . . . . . 6
Oath of Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. . . . . . . . . 22
Recorders and Treasurers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Conflicts of Interest and Multiple-Office Holding . 7
Executive Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Terms of Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
GOVERNING BODIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
ELECTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Municipal Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Eligibility for Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Filing Deadlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Vacancies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Runoff Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ordinances and Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Campaign Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Campaign Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
POLICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. . . . . . . . . 30
EMPLOYMENT LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
STREETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Drug Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
UTILITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Family and Medical Leave Act . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Harassment and Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
ZONING AND LAND USE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hiring and Firing Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Manufactured/Mobile Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Supervision of Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
COMMUNICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Uniformed Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1
Introduction
The legal staff of the Arkansas Municipal League daily receives dozens of communications from
city officials and employees who have questions about legal issues affecting them and their cities
and towns. This booklet is a compilation of some of those questions, arranged by subject matter.
It is intended to complement the Handbook for Arkansas Municipal Officials, which contains the
most essential statutes and case notes relevant to municipalities. Most of the statutes from the
Arkansas Code Annotated (A.C.A.) cited herein can be found in the Handbook. A few may not
be, so contact your city attorney or the League legal staff if you need a copy, or search online at
hottopics/arcode. A web browser search for ¡°Arkansas Code Online¡± will also
work.
This publication also refers to Arkansas Attorney General Opinions. These may be found online
at opinions/index.php, or simply search for ¡°Arkansas Attorney General
Opinions.¡±
Finally, we refer throughout to other publications that may prove useful and have included at the
end a list of publications available from the League. Order or download them from the League
website, , or call 501-374-3484, Ext. 248 to request hard copies.
Disclaimers
The information contained in this book is not intended as legal advice for any specific case. Only
the most recent version should be used, though bear in mind that the law may change prior to
a new edition. Readers are responsible for consulting with legal counsel when questions arise
concerning the application of the law to a particular set of facts. This book is intended solely for
educational and informational purposes.
2
Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA)
Cir. 2000) (¡°holding the ADA ¡®does not apply to an
officer¡¯s on-the-street responses to reported disturbances or other similar incident, whether or not those
calls involve subjects with mental disabilities, prior to
the officer¡¯s securing the scene and ensuring that there
is no threat to human life¡¯¡±)).
See also the Municipal League's publications Americans
with Disability Act Compliance Guide and Understanding
Municipal Personnel Law and Suggestions for Avoiding
Lawsuits.
Q: Where can I get more information about the ADA?
A: The U.S. Department of Justice has a toll-free ADA
information line staffed by specialists to answer your
questions, 800-514-0301. In addition, an automated
service allows callers to listen to recorded information
and order publications. The number is 800-514-0383.
You can also find information online at .
These services are not for employment-related ADA
questions, however. The federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website, eeoc.
gov, provides information on a range of employment
law issues, including those raised by the ADA.
Q: Can the mayor or city attorney act as the ADA
coordinator for the city?
A: While it would be permissible for either the mayor
or city attorney to hold this position, it would be
desirable to have a permanent employee fill this spot.
Since elected and appointed officials come and go, it
would be advantageous to have someone develop the
expertise and experience over a longer period in this
critical area.
Q: Does the ADA apply to persons who are being
arrested?
A: Yes. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
(which includes Arkansas) has held that the ADA
applies during an arrest (Gorman v. Bartch, 152 F.3d
907 (8th Cir. 1998)). Gorman, a wheelchair-user,
requested that police officers help him get back into
a bar that had just ejected him. When Gorman began
to argue with the officers, they arrested him. Because
the patrol wagon that arrived was not equipped with
wheelchair restraints or a wheelchair lift, officers
placed Gorman on a bench and used his belt and a
seatbelt to secure him to the mesh wall behind the
bench. In transit, the belts loosened, and Gorman
fell to the floor. He required surgery for the resulting
injuries he received. The ADA prohibits discrimination in the services of public entities. A United States
Supreme Court decision held that state prisons fall
within the statutory definition of a public entity. The
Eighth Circuit determined that a police department,
like a state prison, is a public entity and that the transportation of an arrestee is a program or service of the
police department. The police department¡¯s failure to
provide adequate transportation for disabled persons
was therefore discriminatory under the ADA.
More recently, the Eighth Circuit has affirmed
that the ADA is applicable when law enforcement
places disabled suspects into custody (Roberts v. City
of Omaha, 723 F.3d 966, 973 (8th Cir. 2013)). But,
the ADA duty may not be applicable in uncertain
and quickly changing situations or where officers are
¡°attempting to secure a potentially violent suspect.¡±
(Id. citing Hainze v. Richards, 207 F.3d 795, 801 (5th
Boundary Changes
(Annexation, Consolidation, etc.)
See also the Municipal League's publication Municipal
Annexation, Incorporation and Other Boundary Changes.
Q: What are the proper procedures for reporting
boundary changes in Arkansas? What state and local
offices should be contacted when we have a boundary change?
A: The statutes dealing with annexation, detachment and
consolidation (A.C.A. ¡ì¡ì 14-40-303, 14-40-605 (as
amended by Act 655 of 2017, effective Mar. 27, 2017)
and 14-40-608) provide for filing in the county clerk¡¯s
office. A.C.A. ¡ì¡ì 14-40-605 and 14-40-608 require
filing with the county clerk, who is required to notify
the Tax Division of the Public Service Commission.
These statutes require the filing of a map and other
listed documents.
In addition, A.C.A. ¡ì 14¨C40¨C101, provides,
¡°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, consolidation, and detachment
areas.¡± For additional definitions and requirements,
see Act 655 of 2017 (effective Mar. 27, 2017), creating
A.C.A. ¡ì 14-40-102.
3
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