reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AR Code § 14-40-401 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 4 - Annexation of Lands in Adjoining County|§ 14-40-401. Authority

 (a) The General Assembly finds that there are areas within adjoining counties that are so necessary to the satisfactory conducting of a city's business that there is a need to annex land lying in the adjoining county into the city. This law will aid the residents to receive needed services to improve the quality of life in the unincorporated area.  (b) Any lands contiguous to a municipality having a population of seventy-five thousand (75,000) or less, although located in an adjoining county, may become annexed to the municipality in the manner provided in this chapter.
AR Code § 14-40-501 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 5 - Annexation of Surrounded Land|§ 14-40-501. Authority — Exceptions

 (a)  (1)  (A)  (i) Whenever the incorporated limits of a municipality have completely surrounded an unincorporated area, the governing body of the municipality may propose an ordinance calling for the annexation of the land surrounded by the municipality.  (ii) Subdivision (a)(1)(A)(i) of this section includes situations in which the incorporated limits of a municipality have surrounded an unincorporated area on only three (3) sides because the fourth side is a boundary line with another state, a military base, a state park, a national forest, a lake, or a river.    (B) If the incorporated limits of two (2) or more municipalities have completely surrounded an unincorporated area, the governing body of the municipality with the greater distance of city limits adjoining the unincorporated area's perimeter may propose an ordinance calling for the annexation of the land surrounded by the municipalities, unless it is agreed by the adjoining municipalities that another of the adjoining municipalities should propose an ordinance calling for the annexation.    (2) The ordinance will provide a legal description of the land to be annexed and describe generally the services to be extended to the area to be annexed.    (b)  (1) The unincorporated area to be annexed shall comply with the standards for lands qualifying for annexation which are set forth in § 14-40-302.  (2) Privately owned lakes exceeding six (6) acres of water surface which are used exclusively for recreational purposes and lands adjacent to them not exceeding twenty (20) acres in size which are used exclusively for recreational purposes in relation to the lake shall not qualify for annexation under the provisions of this subchapter.
AR Code § 14-40-502 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 5 - Annexation of Surrounded Land|§ 14-40-502. Hearing — Notice

 (a) A public hearing shall be conducted within sixty (60) days of the proposal of the ordinance calling for annexation.  (b) At least fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality shall publish a legal notice setting out the legal description of the territory proposed to be annexed and notify by certified mail all the property owners within the area proposed to be annexed of their right to appear at the public hearing to present their views on the proposed annexation.
AR Code § 14-40-503 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 5 - Annexation of Surrounded Land|§ 14-40-503. Procedure for annexation

 (a)  (1)  (A) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(1)(B) of this section, at the next regularly scheduled meeting following the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality proposing annexation may bring the proposed ordinance up for a vote.  (B) An ordinance shall not be enacted within fifty-one (51) days of a scheduled election to consider annexing all or part of the area in question.    (2) If a majority of the total number of members of the governing body vote for the proposed annexation ordinance, then a prima facie case for annexation shall be established, and the city shall proceed to render services to the annexed area.    (b) The decision of the municipal council shall be final unless suit is brought in circuit court of the appropriate county within thirty (30) days after passage to review the actions of the governing body.
AR Code § 14-40-504 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 5 - Annexation of Surrounded Land|§ 14-40-504. Enclaves prohibited

 (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 manner that does not create enclaves.
AR Code § 14-40-601 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-601. Application by petition

 (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 situated, shall name the persons authorized to act on behalf of the petitioners, and may include a schedule of services of the annexing municipality that will be extended to the area within three (3) years after the date the annexation becomes final.  (b) The “majority of real estate owners” referred to in this section means a majority of the total number of real estate owners in the area affected if the majority of the total number of owners own more than one half (½) of the acreage affected.
AR Code § 14-40-602 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-602. Hearing on petition

 (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.    (b)  (1)  (A) Between the time of the filing of the petition and the date of the hearing, the petitioners shall cause a notice to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the county.  (B) The notice shall be published one (1) time a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.    (2) If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice shall be posted at some public place within the limits of the incorporated town or city for at least three (3) weeks before the date of the hearing.  (3) The notice referred to in this subsection shall contain the substance of the petition and state the time and place appointed for the hearing thereof.    (c) The hearing procedure set forth in § 14-38-103 shall be followed in the proceedings concerned in this section insofar as such procedure is not in conflict with any provision expressly set out in this subchapter.
AR Code § 14-40-603 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-603. Order for annexation

 (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 the limits of the territory to be annexed have been accurately described and an accurate map thereof made and filed, and that the prayer of the petitioner is right and proper, then the court shall enter its order granting the petition and annexing the territory.  (b) The order shall be recorded by the clerk of the county.
AR Code § 14-40-604 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-604. Proceedings to prevent annexation

 (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 the proceeding shall be satisfied that the requirements for annexation as set out in this subchapter have not been complied with, that the territory proposed to be annexed is unreasonably large, or that the territory is not properly described, the court or judge shall make an order restraining any further action under the order of the county court and annulling it. However, the proceeding shall not bar any subsequent petition.  (B) If the court or judge shall determine that the order of the county court was proper, then the order of the county court shall be affirmed, and the proceedings to prevent the annexation shall be dismissed.      (b) When any complaint shall be made in accordance with this section to prevent an annexation of territory, notice thereof shall be given to the city or incorporated town authorities and the agent of the petitioners.
AR Code § 14-40-605 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-605. Confirmation of annexation

 (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 resolution the territory.  (b)  (1)  (A) If the council accepts the territory and notifies the county clerk of each county in which territory is affected, the county clerk shall certify one (1) copy of the plat of the annexed territory and one (1) copy of the order of the court and the resolution or ordinance of the council.  (B) The county clerk shall forward a copy of each document to the Secretary of State, who shall file and preserve each copy.    (2) The county clerk shall forward a certified copy of the order of the court to the council.
AR Code § 14-40-606 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-606. Rights and privileges of new inhabitants

 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 privileges of the inhabitants within the original limits of the city or incorporated town.
AR Code § 14-40-608 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-608. Right to detach certain lands after annexation proceeding

 (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 lands from the city or town under the provisions of this section, so long as the city or town has not provided utility services to those lands.  (b)  (1) When a qualifying landowner notifies the municipality that he or she wishes to detach his or her land from the city or town under this section, the governing body of the municipality may pass an ordinance within thirty (30) days to detach the annexed, qualifying land from the municipality.  (2)  (A) In order to notify the city or town, the landowner shall file an affidavit with the city clerk or recorder stating that:  (i) His or her land was annexed;  (ii) His or her land is located inside the city or town along the municipal boundary; and  (iii) He or she desires the annexed land to be detached from the municipality.    (B) The affidavit shall be filed along with a certified copy of the plat of the annexed land he or she desires to be detached and a copy of the order of the county court approving the annexation and the resolution or ordinance of the municipal governing body accepting the annexation.      (c) If the municipal governing body approves the ordinance to detach the territory, the clerk or recorder of the municipality shall duly certify and send one (1) copy of the plat of the detached territory, one (1) copy of the ordinance detaching the territory, and one (1) copy of the qualifying affidavit to the county clerk.  (d)  (1) The county clerk shall forward a copy of each document to the Secretary of State, who shall file and preserve them.  (2) The county clerk shall forward one (1) copy of the plat of the detached territory and one (1) copy of the ordinance detaching the territory to the Director of the Tax Division of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, who shall file and preserve them and shall notify all utility companies having property in the municipality of the detachment proceedings.
AR Code § 14-40-1201 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-1201. Petition for consolidation

 (a)  (1)  (A) Beginning July 1, 1995, when the inhabitants of any city or incorporated town adjoining or contiguous to another smaller municipal corporation of any class in the same county shall desire that the city or incorporated town annex to it or consolidate with it the smaller municipal corporation, they may apply, by a petition in writing signed by a number of qualified electors from each of the municipal corporations equal to not less than fifteen percent (15%) of the total vote cast for the office of mayor in the respective city or town in the last preceding general election, to the city or town council of the larger municipal corporation.  (B) Municipal corporations separated by a river shall be deemed contiguous.    (2) The petition shall:  (A) Describe the municipal corporations to be consolidated; and  (B) Name the persons authorized to act in behalf of the petitioners presenting the petition as provided in this section.    (3)  (A) Beginning July 1, 1995, the petitions shall be filed with the city clerk or town recorder of each municipal corporation, who shall determine the sufficiency of the petitions in each municipality.  (B)  (i) If any petition is determined insufficient, he or she shall notify the petitioners in writing without delay, and the petitioners shall be permitted ten (10) days from the notification to solicit additional signatures or to prove any rejected signatures.  (ii) If the city clerk or town recorder of the respective municipalities decides the petitions are sufficient, he or she each shall notify the petitioners in writing and shall present the petitions to the city or town council of the larger municipal corporation.        (b)  (1)  (A) When the petition is presented to the council, the council shall pass an ordinance in favor of the annexation and approving and ratifying the petition.  (B) If the council fails to pass the ordinance required under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of this section, then any interested party may apply for a writ of mandamus to require the performance of the requirement.    (2) In that event, it shall be the duty of the persons named in the petition authorized to act in behalf of the petitioners to file the petition, together with a certified copy of the ordinance, in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the municipal corporations are situated.
AR Code § 14-40-1202 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-1202. Special election called

 (a)  (1)  (A) Upon presentation of the petition to the county court by the authorized persons, the court shall at once order and call a special election, to be held in accordance with § 7-11-201 et seq., in both of the municipal corporations on the question of the annexation and the name of the proposed consolidated municipality.  (B) The court shall give thirty (30) days' notice of the election by publication one (1) time a week in some newspaper with a bona fide circulation in the territory and by notices posted in conspicuous places in the territory.    (2) The court shall appoint one (1) judge and one (1) clerk in each ward or other division of each municipal corporation, and the mayor and city council of each of the municipal corporations shall select two (2) judges and one (1) clerk for each of the wards or other divisions having the qualifications of electors, to act as judges and clerks of election within the respective wards.  (3) The court shall fix all polling places at which the voting shall take place.    (b)  (1) The election shall be held and conducted in each corporation in the manner prescribed by law for holding elections for cities or incorporated towns, so far as they are applicable. Election expenses are to be paid by the larger city or incorporated town.  (2)  (A) All elections held under this subchapter are made legal elections.  (B)  (i) The elections shall be governed by and subject to all the laws relating to general elections so far as applicable.  (ii) All judges, clerks, and persons voting in the elections shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by the general election laws of the state for any violation of the general election laws to the same extent as though the elections were specifically included in the general election laws of the state.      (3) The returns of the elections shall be made to the court and the result thereof declared by the court.    (c) In order to provide for an orderly transition of affairs if the petition calls for a delay in the implementation of the consolidation, the consolidation shall not take effect until the date specified in the petition, except that the consolidation shall be delayed not longer than eighteen (18) months from the date the election results are declared by the court.
AR Code § 14-40-1203 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-1203. Election results

 (a) At any election held under this subchapter, all qualified electors who are residents of either municipality shall be allowed to vote on the adoption or rejection of the proposed annexation or consolidation and the name of the proposed consolidated municipality.  (b)  (1)  (A)  (i) If a majority of the votes cast in each of the respective municipalities, considered as a separate and distinct unit and without reference to the vote cast in the other, shall be in favor of the consolidation or annexation, then the county court shall declare, by an appropriate order, the annexation or consolidation consummated unless the petition has requested a delayed date for implementation of the consolidation.  (ii) If the petition calls for a delay in the implementation of the consolidation and if a majority of the votes cast in each of the respective municipalities is in favor of the consolidation, then the county court shall order the annexation or consolidation consummated on the date specified in the petition, except that the date shall not be more than eighteen (18) months after the date election results are declared by the court.    (B)  (i) If a majority of the votes cast in each of the respective municipalities, considered as a separate and distinct unit and without reference to the vote cast in the other, shall be in favor of the same name of the municipality, then the county court shall declare, by appropriate order, the name of the consolidated municipality.  (ii) If a majority of the votes cast in each of the respective municipalities, considered as a separate and distinct unit and without reference to the vote cast in the other, shall not be in favor of the same name of the municipality, then the county court shall declare, by appropriate order, the name of the consolidated municipality to be the name of the larger municipality.    (C)  (i) Upon the making of the order, the smaller municipal corporation and the territory comprising it shall, in law, be deemed and be taken to be included and shall be a part of the larger municipal corporation.  (ii) The inhabitants thereof shall in all respects be citizens of the larger municipal corporation.      (2) If a majority of the votes of either municipal corporation shall be against annexation, then the city or incorporated town shall not be again permitted to attempt the consolidation for two (2) years.
AR Code § 14-40-1204 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 3 - Municipal Government|Chapter 40 - Annexation, Consolidation, and Detachment by Municipalities|Subchapter 6 - Annexation Proceedings by Adjoining Landowners|§ 14-40-1204. Contest of election

 Any elector shall have the right to test the legality and fairness of the election and the declared results in a proceeding before the circuit court without being required to give bond for costs. However, no such contest shall interfere with the consolidation until finally decided.