Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 525 3
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By: Senator M. Johnson 5
By: Representative Brooks 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING INCORPORATION AND 9
ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPALITIES; TO TRANSFER 10
INCORPORATION DUTIES TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE; AND 11
FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING 16
INCORPORATION AND ORGANIZATION OF 17
MUNICIPALITIES; AND TO TRANSFER 18
INCORPORATION DUTIES TO THE SECRETARY OF 19
STATE. 20
21
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 22
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 14 -38-101 is amended to read as follows: 24
14-38-101. Petition for incorporation. 25
(a)(1) When the inhabitants of a part of any county not embraced 26
within the limits of any city or incorporated town shall desire to be 27
organized into a city or incorporated town, they may apply, by a petition in 28
writing, signed by the greater of either two hundred (200) seventy-five (75) 29
or a majority of the qualified voters residing within the described 30
territory, to the county court of the proper county. 31
(2) The petition shall: 32
(A) Describe the territory proposed to be embraced in the 33
incorporated town and have annexed to it an accurate map or plat of the 34
territory; 35
(B) State the name proposed for the incorporated town; and 36 SB525
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(C) Name the persons authorized to act in behalf of the 1
petitioners in prosecuting the petition. 2
(b)(1) Unless the governing body of the municipal corporation has 3
affirmatively consented to the incorporation by written resolution or the 4
area that seeks to be incorporated contains a population of one thousand five 5
hundred (1,500) or more, the court Secretary of State shall not approve the 6
incorporation of a municipality if any portion of the territory proposed to 7
be embraced in the incorporated town lies within: 8
(A) Three (3) miles of an existing municipal corporation; 9
or 10
(B) The area in which that existing municipal corporation 11
is exercising its planning territorial jurisdiction. 12
(2) The planning territorial jurisdiction limitation shall not 13
apply if the area proposed to be incorporated is land upon which a real 14
estate development by a single developer, containing not less than four 15
thousand (4,000) acres, has been or is being developed under a comprehensive 16
plan for a community containing streets and other public services, parks, and 17
other recreational facilities for common use by the residents of the 18
community, churches, schools, and commercial and residential facilities, and 19
which has been subdivided into sufficient lots for residential use to 20
accommodate a projected population of not fewer than one thousand (1,000) 21
persons, and for which a statement of record has been filed with the United 22
States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Interstate Land 23
Sales Full Disclosure Act. 24
(c)(1) When any petition shall be presented to the court, it shall be 25
filed in the office of the county clerk, to be kept there, subject to the 26
inspection of any persons interested, until the time appointed for the 27
hearing of it. 28
(2) The county clerk shall verify the signatures of the petition 29
within thirty (30) days of receipt of the petition. 30
(3) If the petition is verified by the county clerk under 31
subdivision (c)(2) of this section, the county clerk shall submit a copy of 32
the verified petition to the Secretary of State. 33
(d)(1) At or before the time of the filing, the court Secretary of 34
State shall fix and communicate to the petitioners, or their agent, a time 35
and place for the hearing of the petition, which time shall not be less than 36 SB525
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thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition. 1
(2)(A)(i) Thereupon, the The petitioners or their agent shall 2
cause a notice to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in 3
the county for not less than three (3) consecutive weeks. 4
(ii) If there is no newspaper of general circulation 5
in the county, a notice shall be posted at some public place within the 6
limits of the proposed incorporated town for at least three (3) weeks before 7
the time of the hearing. 8
(B) The notice shall contain the substance of the petition 9
and state the time and place appointed for the hearing. 10
(3) The Secretary of State shall publish notice of the hearing 11
at least three (3) weeks before the hearing on the Secretary of State's 12
website. 13
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 14 -38-103 is amended to read as follows: 15
14-38-103. Hearing on petition. 16
(a)(1) Every incorporation hearing under this chapter shall be public 17
and may be adjourned from time to time. 18
(2) Any person interested may appear and contest the granting of 19
the prayer of the petition, and affidavits in support of or against the 20
petition, which may be prepared and submitted, shall be examined by the 21
county court Secretary of State. 22
(b)(1) In its At his or her discretion, the court Secretary of State 23
may permit the agent named in the original petition to amend or change it. 24
(2) However, no No amendment shall be permitted whereby 25
territory not before embraced shall be added or the character of the proposed 26
city or incorporated town changed from special to general, or from general to 27
special, without appointing another time for a hearing and requiring new 28
notice to be given as provided in § 14 -38-101. 29
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 14 -38-104 is amended to read as follows: 31
14-38-104. Order of incorporation — Transcript. 32
(a) The county court Secretary of State shall make out and endorse on 33
the petition an order to the effect that the city or incorporated town as 34
named and described in the petition may be organized if the court Secretary 35
of State shall be satisfied after hearing the petition that: 36 SB525
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(1) The greater of either two hundred (200) seventy-five (75) or 1
a majority of the qualified voters residing within the described territory 2
have signed the petition; 3
(2) The limits have been accurately described and an accurate 4
map or plat of the limits made and filed; 5
(3) The name proposed for the city or incorporated town is 6
proper and sufficient to distinguish it from others of like kind in the 7
state; and 8
(4) Moreover, that it shall be deemed right and proper in the 9
judgment and discretion of the court that the petition shall be granted The 10
proposed business plan sufficiently addresses the continuation of services 11
which may include without limitation: 12
(A) Police services; 13
(B) Fire services; 14
(C) Utilities; and 15
(D) Trash services. 16
(b)(1) The order shall be signed and delivered by the court Secretary 17
of State, together with the petition and the map or plat, to the recorder of 18
the county, whose duty it shall be to record it as soon as possible in the 19
proper book or records and to file and preserve in his or her office the 20
original papers, having certified thereon that it has been properly recorded. 21
(2)(A) It shall also be the duty of the recorder to make out and 22
certify, under his or her official seal, two (2) transcripts of the record. 23
(B) The recorder shall forward one (1) copy to the 24
Secretary of State and deliver one (1) copy to the agent of the petitioners, 25
with a certificate thereon that a similar transcript has been forwarded to 26
the Secretary of State as provided by this section. 27
(c) A petition for incorporation under this chapter shall not be 28
denied because the proposed boundaries of the municipality fall within more 29
than one (1) county. 30
31
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 14 -38-107(b), concerning hearing on a 32
complaint for incorporation, is amended to read as follows: 33
(b) If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or judge that 34
the proposed city or incorporated town does not contain the requisite number 35
of inhabitants, that a majority of them have not signed the original 36 SB525
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petition, or that the limits of the proposed city or incorporated town are 1
unreasonably large or small or are not properly and sufficiently accurately 2
described, then the court or judge shall order the record of the incorporated 3
town to be annulled. 4
5
SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 14 -38-117 is amended to read as follows: 6
14-38-117. Effective date of incorporation required. 7
(a)(1) The county court order of incorporation affecting territory 8
under this chapter shall include the effective date upon which the petition 9
for incorporation is granted and the municipality is considered organized. 10
(2) County court orders An order issued under this chapter that 11
fail fails to include a specified effective date in the order shall require 12
using the date of the county clerk's file mark as the effective date for all 13
purposes. 14
(b) The effective date specified in the order of incorporation issued 15
under § 14-38-104 is the official effective date to be used by any county or 16
state official charged with recording, forwarding, maintaining, or 17
instituting the order of incorporation. 18
(c)(1) In the event of a circuit court challenge to the county court 19
order of incorporation, the final order of the circuit court shall specify a 20
change to the effective date, if any. 21
(2) In the absence of a specific attestation, the county court-22
ordered effective date that appears on the signed order of incorporation is 23
the effective date. 24
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SECTION 6. Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 38, Subchapter 1, is 26
amended to add an additional section to read as follows: 27
14-38-118. Rules. 28
The Secretary of State may promulgate rules to implement this 29
subchapter. 30
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