Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Arkansas General Assembly, fetched 2026-07-23. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
1 State of Arkansas A Bill
2 95th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1510
4
5 By: Representative Gonzales
6 By: Senator G. Stubblefield
7
8 For An Act To Be Entitled
9 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING TERRITORIAL
10 JURISDICTION OF MUNICIPALITIES; TO REPEAL THE
11 AUTHORITY FOR A MUNICIPALITY TO EXERCISE TERRITORIAL
12 JURISDICTION OVER AN UNINCORPORATED AREA OF A COUNTY;
13 AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
14
15
16 Subtitle
17 TO REPEAL THE AUTHORITY FOR A
18 MUNICIPALITY TO EXERCISE TERRITORIAL
19 JURISDICTION OVER AN UNINCORPORATED AREA
20 OF A COUNTY.
21
22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
23
24 SECTION 1. Arkansas Code � 14-17-208(i), concerning subdivision,
25 setback, and entry control ordinances for county planning boards, is
26 repealed.
27 (i) In unincorporated areas adjoining the corporate limits of a
28 municipality in which the authority to control the subdivision of land is
29 vested and is being exercised in accordance with and under the provisions of
30 �� 14-56-401 -- 14-56-408 and 14-56-410 -- 14-56-425, or any amendments thereto
31 or thereof, or other acts of a similar nature enacted by the General
32 Assembly, the municipal authority shall have subdivision jurisdiction, but
33 shall transmit copies of proposed plats for the areas to the county planning
34 board and the board of directors of each affected school district for review
35 and comment, which shall be made to the municipal authority within sixty (60)
36 days from the time it is received by the county planning board and the board
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1 of directors of each affected school district unless further time is allowed
2 by the municipal authority.
3
4 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code � 14-17-208(l)(1), concerning subdivision,
5 setback, and entry control ordinances for county planning boards, is amended
6 to read as follows:
7 (l)(1) Following the adoption of any subdivision, setback, or entry
8 control ordinances by the court, a plat in an unincorporated area of a county
9 not within the exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality
10 shall not be presented for recording without the approval of the county
11 planning board.
12
13 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code � 14-38-101(b)(1)(B), concerning limitations
14 on a petition for incorporation, is repealed.
15 (B) The area in which that existing municipal corporation
16 is exercising its planning territorial jurisdiction.
17
18 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code � 14-40-208 is repealed.
19 14-40-208. Annexation of territory under municipal territorial
20 jurisdiction.
21 (a) If a municipality states its intent by resolution or ordinance to
22 annex a specifically defined territory or portion of the territory over which
23 it is exercising territorial jurisdiction under � 14-56-413, the municipality
24 shall initiate annexation proceedings within five (5) years of the stated
25 intent.
26 (b)(1) During the five (5) years under subsection (a) of this section,
27 the municipality may continue to exercise its territorial jurisdiction under
28 � 14-56-413, including the defined territory specified within its intent to
29 annex.
30 (2) If the municipality does not initiate annexation proceedings
31 of the territory specified within its intent to annex within five (5) years
32 of the effective date of the resolution or ordinance under subsection (a) of
33 this section, the municipality is prohibited from again exercising
34 territorial jurisdiction over the territory specified within its intent to
35 annex for the next five (5) years.
36
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1 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code � 14-56-413 is repealed.
2 14-56-413. Territorial jurisdiction.
3 (a)(1)(A) The territorial jurisdiction of the governing body of a
4 municipality for the purpose of this subchapter shall not exceed the limits
5 stated under this subsection.
6 (B) If the territorial limits of two (2) or more
7 municipalities conflict, the limits of their respective territorial
8 jurisdictions shall be a line equidistant between them, or as agreed on by
9 the respective municipalities.
10 (2) In addition to the powers under this subchapter, cities now
11 having eight thousand (8,000) population or more shall have the authority to
12 administer and enforce planning ordinances outside their corporate limits as
13 follows:
14 (A) For cities of eight thousand (8,000) to sixty thousand
15 (60,000) population, the jurisdictional area will be one (1) mile beyond the
16 corporate limits;
17 (B) For cities of sixty thousand (60,000) to one hundred
18 fifty thousand (150,000) population, the jurisdictional area will be two (2)
19 miles beyond the corporate limits; and
20 (C)(i) For cities of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000)
21 population and greater, the jurisdictional area will be three (3) miles
22 beyond the corporate limits.
23 (ii) Upon July 3, 1989, no city with a population in
24 excess of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) persons shall exercise any
25 zoning authority outside the boundaries of the county wherein it is located
26 without the approval of the quorum court of the county wherein the city is
27 not located and the approval of the governing bodies of all other cities
28 having zoning authority over the area.
29 (3) Cities having a population of eight thousand (8,000) persons
30 or less:
31 (A) Shall have a jurisdictional area that does not exceed
32 one (1) mile beyond the corporate limits; and
33 (B) Shall not exercise any zoning authority outside the
34 corporate limits.
35 (4) Cities now having an eight thousand (8,000) population or
36 more and situated on a navigable stream may administer and enforce zoning
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1 ordinances outside their corporate limits but may not exceed the territorial
2 limits under subdivision (a)(2) of this section.
3 (5) The city populations will be based on the most recent
4 federal decennial census.
5 (b)(1) The planning commission shall designate the area within the
6 territorial jurisdiction for which it will prepare plans, ordinances, and
7 regulations.
8 (2) A description of the boundaries of the area shall be filed
9 with the city clerk and with the county recorder.
10
11 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code � 14-56-417(c), concerning the regulations to
12 control development of land, is repealed.
13 (c) A plat within the area within which the municipality intends to
14 exercise its territorial jurisdiction as indicated on the planning area map
15 shall not be presented for recording without the approval of the planning
16 commission, if a planning commission exists.
17
18 SECTION 7. Arkansas Code � 14-56-422(5)(B), concerning adoption of
19 plans, ordinances, and regulations for municipal planning, is repealed.
20 (B) The city clerk shall file the plans, ordinances, and
21 regulations as pertain to the territory beyond the corporate limits with the
22 county recorder of the counties in which territorial jurisdiction is being
23 exercised.
24
25 SECTION 8. Arkansas Code � 14-284-207(a), concerning a quorum court's
26 establishment of a fire protection district service area, is amended to read
27 as follows:
28 (a)(1) The quorum court of each county in which a fire protection
29 district is located shall establish the service area of the fire protection
30 district.
31 (2) The service area of a fire protection district created after
32 January 1, 2021, shall not include any area within the territorial
33 jurisdiction of the governing body of a municipality as established in � 14-
34 56-413 that has adopted an ordinance to provide fire protection services to
35 the area in accordance with � 14-53-102, unless waived by majority vote of
36 the governing body of the municipality.
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1
2 SECTION 9. Arkansas Code � 17-28-305(b)(3), concerning the local
3 regulatory authority of the licensing of electricians, is repealed.
4 (3) If the city has adopted an ordinance to exercise its
5 territorial planning jurisdiction, the city may exercise jurisdiction over
6 the construction, installation, and inspection of electrical work within the
7 city's territorial planning jurisdiction under � 14-56-413 if the city and
8 county agree to the exercise of jurisdiction by the city over electrical work
9 within the city's territorial planning jurisdiction.
10
11 SECTION 10. Arkansas Code � 18-15-1702(6), concerning definitions for
12 the Private Property Protection Act, is repealed.
13 (6) "Territorial jurisdiction" means the territorial jurisdiction
14 of a municipality as described in � 14-56-413.
15
16 SECTION 11. Arkansas Code � 18-15-1703(e)(15), concerning the
17 application of takings under the Private Property Protection Act, is
18 repealed.
19 (15) An action by a municipality unless the regulatory program
20 has effect in the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality, excluding
21 annexation, and that enacts or enforces a regulatory program that does not
22 impose identical requirements or restrictions in the entire territorial
23 jurisdiction of the municipality.
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5 02/17/2025 3:35:42 PM SSS123Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.