AR Code § 18-15-1004 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 18 - Property|Subtitle 2 - Real Property|Chapter 15 - Eminent Domain|Subchapter 10 - Levee and Drainage Districts|§ 18-15-1004. Petition — Appraisal — Summons

 (a) Whenever any levee or drainage district deems it necessary to take, use, or appropriate any right-of-way, land material, or other property for levee, drain, ditch, or canal purposes pursuant to this section, §§ 18-15-1001 — 18-15-1003, and §§ 18-15-1005 — 18-15-1010, or when the right-of-way, land material, or other property has already been entered upon by it or has already been used, taken, or appropriated, then the levee or drainage district, by its president, secretary, attorney, or other authorized agent, may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the property is situated, describing as near as may be practical the property taken or proposed to be taken and asking that the appraisers make an award to the owners of land or property.  (b)  (1) When the petition is filed, a copy of it shall be delivered to each of the appraisers. It shall then be the duty of the appraisers to assemble at some convenient time, enter upon the land or property which has been appropriated or is intended to be appropriated, and ascertain:  (A) The fair market value of the land appropriated, or intended to be appropriated;  (B) The damage which the construction of the levee will cause by the obstruction of natural drainage, not to exceed the cost of artificial drainage; and  (C) The inconvenience of passing over the levee, ditch, drain, or canal or the cost of removing the houses.    (2)  (A) The appraisers shall reduce their findings to writing, giving the amount they award:  (i) Per acre for the land appropriated;  (ii) For inconvenience of crossing the levee, ditch, canal, or drain; and  (iii) For the destruction of crops and houses or the cost of removing the houses upon the right-of-way.    (B) The appraisers shall sign the report and file it with the clerk of the circuit court.    (3) However, any levee or drainage district may have the appraisers go on the land and make the appraisal as provided in this section prior to filing its petition in court. Thereafter, if it becomes necessary to file the petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county, the report of the appraisers may then be filed.    (c)  (1) The clerk shall immediately issue a summons directed to the sheriff of the county, together with a copy of the award attached to the summons, commanding him or her to serve the owner if he or she resides in the county or, if the land belongs to a minor, an individual with mental illness, or an estate, to serve the summons upon the guardian, curator, executor, or administrator of the owner and make return thereof.  (2) However, if the owner is a nonresident of the county or is unknown to the officers of the levee or drainage district, it shall be the duty of the clerk to publish a warning order in some newspaper published in the county for four (4) insertions. The warning order may be in the following form and shall be dated and signed by the clerk:      “To (name of supposed owner) and all other persons having any claim or interest in and to the following described land, situated in County, Arkansas, namely: (here describe the land over which the levee or drainage passes according to U.S. Surveys). You are hereby warned to appear in this court within thirty (30) days, and file exceptions to the award which has been filed in this office by the levee and drainage appraisers of this county for the appropriation of the portion of the hereinbefore described land, for the construction or intended construction of a levee, ditch, canal, or drain, as the case may be, over and across the same.”   Click to view form.