reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AR Code § 14-117-424 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 117 - Irrigation, Drainage, and Watershed Improvement District Act|Subchapter 4 - District Operation|§ 14-117-424. Notice of pendency of suit

 Notice of the pendency of the suit shall be given by publication weekly for four (4) consecutive weeks before judgment is entered on the sale of the lands in some newspaper published in the county where the suit may be pending, which public notice may be in the following terms:   “Board of Commissioners District vs. Delinquent Lands. All persons having or claiming an interest in any of the following described lands, are hereby notified that suit is pending in the chancery court of County, Arkansas, to enforce the collection of certain taxes on the following list of lands, each supposed owner having been set opposite his or her or its lands, together with the amounts severally due from each to wit: (Then shall follow a list of supposed owners, with a descriptive list of the delinquent lands, and amounts due thereon respectively as aforesaid), and the public notice may conclude in the following form: All persons and corporations interested in the lands are notified that they are required by law to appear within four (4) weeks and make defense to the suit, or the same will be taken for confessed and final judgment will be entered directing the sale of the lands for the purpose of collecting the taxes, together with the payment of interest, penalty and cost allowed by law. Clerk of the Court.”   Click to view form.
AR Code § 14-117-425 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 117 - Irrigation, Drainage, and Watershed Improvement District Act|Subchapter 4 - District Operation|§ 14-117-425. Trial generally — Sale of land to bidders

 (a) The suit shall stand for trial at the first term of court after the complaint may be filed if the four (4) weeks shall expire either before the first day of the term or during the term of court to which the suit is brought unless a continuance is granted, for good cause shown, within the discretion of the court. The continuance for good cause shown may be granted as to a part of the lands or defendants without affecting the duty of the court to dispose finally of the others as to whom no continuance may be granted.  (b) In all cases where notice has been properly given as provided in § 14-117-424 and no answer has been filed or, if filed, the cause has been decided for the plaintiff, the court, by its decree, shall grant the relief prayed for in the complaint and shall direct the commissioner to sell the lands described in the complaint at the courthouse door of the county wherein the decree is entered, at public outcry, to the highest and best bidder for cash in hand, after having first advertised the sale weekly for two (2) weeks, consecutively, in some newspaper published in the county, if there is one, and, if there is no newspaper, then that the advertisement be published in some newspaper in an adjoining county. The advertisement may include all lands described in the decree.  (c) If all the lands are not sold on the day as advertised, the sale shall continue from day to day until completed.  (d) The commissioner shall by proper deeds convey to the purchaser the lands so sold. The title to the lands shall thereupon become vested in the purchaser as against all others whomsoever, saving to infants and to insane persons having no guardian or curators, the right they now have by law to appear and except to the proceedings within three (3) years after their disabilities are removed.  (e) In all suits brought under this section and §§ 14-117-423 and 14-117-424, a reasonable attorney's fee shall be taxed in favor of the attorney for the plaintiff, which fee shall be added to the amount of the cost.  (f) In case the board shall fail to commence suit within sixty (60) days after the taxes become delinquent, the holder of any bond or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the district shall have the right to bring suit for the collection of the delinquent assessments. The proceedings in the suit brought by the bondholder or other creditor shall in all respects be governed by the provisions applicable to suits by the board.
AR Code § 14-117-426 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 117 - Irrigation, Drainage, and Watershed Improvement District Act|Subchapter 4 - District Operation|§ 14-117-426. Trial procedure — Sale of land to district

 (a) Suits for collection of taxes shall be conducted in the name of the district and in accordance with the practice and proceedings of chancery or circuit courts in this state, except as herein otherwise provided, and neither attorneys ad litem nor guardians ad litem, nor any of the provisions of § 16-65-403 [repealed] shall be required.  (b) The suits may be disposed of on oral testimony, as in ordinary suits at law.  (c) This law shall be liberally construed to give to this assessment and these tax lists the effect of bona fide mortgage for a valuable consideration, and a first lien upon the lands, as against all persons having an interest therein.  (d) In such suits, it shall be sufficient to allege generally and briefly the organization of the district and the nonpayment of the taxes, setting forth the description of the lands proceeded against, and the amount chargeable to each tract, with prayer for foreclosure.  (e) However, no informality or irregularity in holding any of the meetings provided for herein, or valuation, assessment of the lands, in the name of the owners, or the number of acres therein shall be a valid defense to the action.  (f) In any case where the lands are offered for sale by the commissioner, as provided by this chapter, and the sum of the tax due, together with interest, cost, and penalty, is not bid for the lands, the commissioner shall:  (1) Bid the lands off in the name of the district, bidding therefor the whole amount due as aforesaid;  (2) Execute his deed therefor, as in other cases under this chapter, conveying the land to the district. The deeds, when duly executed in conformity to the provisions of this chapter and recorded, shall be received as evidence in all cases, showing an indefeasible title in the purchasers, unassailable in either law or equity.
AR Code § 14-117-427 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 117 - Irrigation, Drainage, and Watershed Improvement District Act|Subchapter 4 - District Operation|§ 14-117-427. Right of redemption

 At any time within two (2) years after the rendition of the final decree of the chancery or circuit court herein provided for, the owner of the lands may file his petition in the court rendering the decree, alleging the payment of taxes on the lands for the year for which they were sold. Upon the establishment of that fact, the court shall vacate and set aside that decree and provide that any landowner shall have the right to redeem any and all lands sold at that sale within two (2) years thereafter, which shall run from the day when the lands are offered for sale and not from the day the sale is confirmed.
AR Code § 14-118-101 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-101. Construction

 This subchapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose.
AR Code § 14-118-102 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-102. Subchapter cumulative

 This subchapter shall be cumulative and shall not repeal any existing law, nor shall it be deemed to take from any levee, drainage, or other improvement district any power or right the district now has to enter into and perform any agreement or contract with the United States Army Corps of Engineers or other federal agency.
AR Code § 14-118-103 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-103. Petition to establish district

 (a) When the Congress of the United States has enacted a law adopting and authorizing a project for the improvement of any of the rivers, tributaries, or streams of or bordering on this state, ten (10) or more owners of real property within the area embraced within the adopted and authorized project shall petition the circuit court to establish an improvement district to embrace the property within the area, describing generally the region which is intended to be embraced within the district. A concise statement of the authorized and adopted project, a copy of the Act of Congress, together with the plans and estimated cost to be borne by the district as made by the United States Army Corps of Engineers or other agency of the federal government, shall be attached and made a part of the petition. A concise statement showing the necessity of forming and creating the proposed improvement district, and a concise statement as to the benefits to be received by the proposed adopted and authorized project shall be included.  (b) Upon the filing of the petition, it shall be presented to the judge of the circuit court, either in term or vacation, and the court shall make an order directing the clerk of the circuit court in which the petition is filed to give notice by publication for two (2) weeks in some newspaper or newspapers published and having a general circulation in each of the counties embraced within the proposed boundaries of the district, calling upon all persons owning property therein to appear before the court on some day to be fixed by the court to show cause in favor of or against the establishment of the district.  (c) At the time named in the notice, the circuit court shall meet and hear all property owners within the proposed district who wish to appear and advocate or resist the establishment of the district. If the court finds and deems it to be the best interest of the owners of real property within the district that the proposed district shall become an improvement district, under the terms of this subchapter, it shall make an order upon its records establishing the proposed district as an improvement district, subject to all of the terms and provisions of this subchapter.
AR Code § 14-118-104 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-104. Petition — Lands in more than one county

 (a) If lands in more than one (1) county are embraced within the adopted and authorized project and within the proposed district, the petition shall be filed in the circuit court in the judicial district in which the largest portion of the lands are situated and within a county in which some part or portion of lands in the proposed district are situated. All proceedings shall be had in the circuit court.  (b) All improvement districts created under this subchapter shall receive names selected and designated by the circuit court.  (c) No petition filed under the provisions of this subchapter shall include lands in any other county except the one in which the petition is filed, unless there is attached to the petition a statement signed by twenty (20) landowners or by one-half (½) of the owners in the affected area of each of the counties sought to be included asking that the lands of their county be included.
AR Code § 14-118-105 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-105. Establishment order — Appeal

 (a) The order of the circuit court establishing the district shall have all of the force and effect of a judgment.  (b) Any owner of real property within the district may appeal from the judgment within thirty (30) days after the judgment has been made, but if no appeal is taken within that time, the judgment authorizing and creating the district shall be deemed conclusive and binding upon all of the property within the bounds of the district and upon the owners thereof.  (c) Any owner of property in the district may in a like manner appeal from any order refusing to establish the district.
AR Code § 14-118-106 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-106. Board of commissioners

 (a) When the circuit court has established any improvement district, it shall appoint any number of owners of real property within the district, the number to be fixed by the court, to act as commissioners. At least one (1) shall be appointed from each county containing lands embraced in the district.  (b) Each of these commissioners shall take the oath of office required by Arkansas Constitution, Article 19, § 20, and shall also swear that he will not directly or indirectly be interested in any contract made by the board, and that he will well and truly assess all benefits resulting from the improvement and all damages caused thereby. Any commissioner failing to take the oath within thirty (30) days after his appointment shall have been deemed to decline, and his place shall be filled by the circuit court, if in session, and if not, by the circuit judge.  (c) All vacancies of the board shall be filled by the circuit court wherein the district was formed or the judge thereof in vacation.  (d) The board shall select one (1) of their number as chairman, and a majority shall constitute a quorum.  (e) The commissioners provided for shall receive as compensation the sum of five dollars ($5.00) each day for attending meetings of the board, together with their necessary expenses.  (f) The board of commissioners shall have the right, power, and authority to:  (1) Employ attorneys, agents, and personnel as it deems necessary, and fix their respective compensation; and  (2) Purchase and operate machinery or to contract work required by the federal agency.
AR Code § 14-118-107 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-107. District use of federal agency plans

 The plans prepared by the Chief of Engineers, United States Army Corps of Engineers, or any other federal agency as and when adopted, approved, and authorized by Congress of the United States, shall be the plan of improvement for the district.
AR Code § 14-118-108 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-108. Assessment of benefits and damages

 (a) The commissioners shall proceed to assess the lands within the district, shall inscribe in a book the description of each tract of land, shall assess the value of the benefits to accrue to each tract by reason of the improvement, and shall enter the assessment of benefits opposite the description.  (b) The assessment shall embrace not merely the lands, but all property and corporate roads, railroads, tramroads, and other improvements on land that will be benefited by the improvement.  (c) There shall be placed opposite each tract of land the name of the supposed owner as shown by the last county assessment, but a mistake in the name shall not vitiate the assessment and the commissioners may correct evident errors which occur in the county assessment list.  (d) The commissioners shall also assess all damages that will accrue to any landowner by reason of the proposed improvement, including all injury to lands taken or damaged. Where they return no such assessment of damages as to any tract of land, it shall be deemed a finding by them that no damage will be sustained.
AR Code § 14-118-109 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-109. Filing of assessment — Notice and hearing — Appeal

 (a) When the assessment is completed, the commissioners shall subscribe the assessment and deposit it with the clerk of the circuit court where the district was organized. The book shall be kept and preserved as a public record, and a list of the lands and assessments in the county shall be filed with the respective circuit clerk and recorder in each of the counties.  (b) Upon the filing of the assessment the circuit clerk shall give notice of the fact by publication for two (2) weeks in some newspaper in each of the counties in which the lands of the district may be situated.  (c) The notice shall give a description of the lands assessed for the proposed improvement, and it shall indicate that the owners of the lands, if they desire, may appear before the circuit court on a day therein named and fixed by the clerk and present complaints against the assessment of any lands in the district.  (d) Any owner of real property within the district who conceives himself to be aggrieved by the assessment of benefits or damages, or deems that the assessment of any lands in the district is inadequate, shall present his complaint to the circuit court on the day named in the notice.  (e) The court shall consider the complaint and enter its findings thereon, either confirming the assessment or increasing or diminishing it, and its findings shall have the force and effect of a judgment, from which an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court of Arkansas within thirty (30) days, either by the property owner or by the commissioners of the district.
AR Code § 14-118-110 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-110. Tax levy — Appeal

 (a) The circuit court shall at the same time that the assessment of benefits is confirmed, or any subsequent time when called upon by the commissioners of the district, enter upon its records an order which shall have all the force of a judgment, providing that there shall be assessed upon the real property of the district a tax sufficient to pay the estimated cost of acquiring lands, easements, and rights-of-way and other costs required by the construction of the project by the United States, and the estimated cost to maintain the works after completion, with ten percent (10%) added for unforeseen contingencies.  (b) The tax shall be paid by the owners of the real property in the district in proportion to the amount of the assessment of benefits thereon. It is to be paid in annual installments not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%) for any one (1) year, as provided in the order.  (c) The tax so levied shall be a lien upon all real property in the district from the time the tax is levied by the court and shall be entitled to preference over all demands, executions, encumbrances, or liens whensoever created. It shall continue until the assessment with penalty and cost that may accrue thereon shall have been paid.  (d) The remedy against the assessment of taxes shall be by appeal, and the appeal must be taken within thirty (30) days from the time the assessment has been made by the circuit court, and on appeal the presumption shall be in favor of the legality of the tax.  (e) The assessment of benefits shall bear interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum and shall be payable only in installments as levied.
AR Code § 14-118-111 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-111. Extension of tax upon books — Collection, delinquency, redemption

 (a) The amount of the tax provided for shall be annually extended upon the tax books of each county where any lands are embraced within the district. The tax shall be collected by the collector of each county in the same manner and within the same time as other state and county taxes, and for his services in making the collection the collector shall receive a commission as is provided by law. The tax shall be paid over to the commissioners of the district by the collector at or before the time he is required by law to make settlement with the county treasurer for county taxes.  (b) The collection of taxes or installments of special assessments levied under this subchapter and the foreclosure of delinquent taxes or installments of special assessments, sale of lands to satisfy foreclosure decrees, and the periods of redemption provided shall be as is prescribed in Acts 1909, No. 279, as amended, and §§ 14-121-426 — 14-121-433.
AR Code § 14-118-112 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-112. Board authority to borrow money and issue bonds

 The acquisitions of rights-of-way, payment of damages, construction of bridges, maintenance, or any other payment or contribution required of the local interests by the plan of the district may be hastened by the borrowing of money by the board at a rate of interest not exceeding six percent (6%) per annum. The board may issue its negotiable bonds or its negotiable evidences of debt signed by such officers as the members of the board may, by resolution, designate, and the board may pledge all assessments of benefits for the repayment thereof.
AR Code § 14-118-113 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-113. District rights, powers, and privileges

 (a) Districts organized under this subchapter shall have all the rights, powers, and privileges of drainage districts organized under existing laws and all amendments of those laws, and specifically under Acts 1909, No. 279, as amended.  (b) However, districts organized under this subchapter shall be limited to the purposes of complying with requirements made of the local interests of drainage, levee, or flood control projects approved and authorized by the Congress of the United States and constructed or partially constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers or by other federal agencies.
AR Code § 14-118-114 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 14-118-114. Contracts of assurance with federal agencies — Eminent domain

 Districts formed under this chapter shall have:   (1) Full power to enter into contracts of assurance with the federal government or any of its agencies and to do and perform all acts required by that agency in furtherance of the plan of improvement as authorized by the Congress of the United States; and  (2) The right of eminent domain as provided by law for other levee or drainage districts.
AR Code § 14-118-201 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 14 - Local Government|Subtitle 7 - Water and Soil Improvement Districts|Chapter 118 - Improvement Districts for Rivers|Subchapter 2 - Red River Improvement Districts|§ 14-118-201. Subchapter cumulative

 This subchapter shall be cumulative and shall not repeal any existing law, nor shall it be deemed to take from any levee, drainage, or other improvement district any power or right the district now has to enter into and perform any agreement or contract with the United States Army Corps of Engineers or other federal agency.