After an Arkansas county court approves a landowner's petition to annex land into a city, does the city have a deadline to accept or reject the annexation?

Plain-English summary

Representative Andrea Lea asked whether a city has a deadline to accept land after a county court grants adjoining landowners' annexation petition. The AG said the question could also ask whether the city must accept the land at all. His answer: the city likely has no obligation to accept it, and the statutes set no deadline for a city decision.

The procedure described in the opinion starts with a landowner petition and county court hearing. After the county court orders annexation, the statutes defer further action for 30 days so an interested person can challenge the order in circuit court. But the annexation becomes effective only if the city or town council accepts the territory by ordinance or resolution.

The AG considered it reasonable as policy for a city to decide within a set time. He could not read that requirement into statutes that did not provide one. His conclusion rested on the text of the annexation procedure, not on any example of a city accepting decades later.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. Check the current annexation statutes and later decisions before relying on it.

Common questions

Does a county court's annexation order force a city to take the land? The AG said the city was in all likelihood under no obligation to accept the territory. City council acceptance remained a condition for the annexation to take effect.

How must a city accept the territory?
The city or town council must accept it by ordinance or resolution, according to the statutory language quoted in the opinion.

Does the 30-day challenge period set a deadline for the city? No. That period gives interested people time to challenge the county court's order in circuit court. The AG found no separate statutory period in which the city must accept.

What if the city waits to decide?
The opinion found no deadline for city action. It did not analyze a particular delayed acceptance or decide how later facts might affect one.

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2014-025
May 20, 2014

STATE OF ARKANSAS
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
DUSTIN McDANIEL

The Honorable Andrea Lea
State Representative
Post Office Box 1342
Russellville, Arkansas 72811

Dear Representative Lea:

You have requested my opinion on the following question concerning a petition for annexation under A.C.A. § 14-40-601 to -606:

In a landowner petition for annexation under Ark. Code Ann. § 14- 40-601 et seq., after the county court approves the landowner request for annexation into a city, is there a timeframe for which the city must act to pass an ordinance or resolution to accept the petitioning landowner and territory?

RESPONSE

This question is a little unclear. It may assume, on the one hand, that the city must act to accept the territory, the only question being whether such action must occur within a certain timeframe. Or it may be asking whether the city is under any obligation at all to accept the territory after the county court has accepted the adjoining landowners' request for annexation. While I am therefore somewhat uncertain regarding the exact focus of your question, I believe it is a sufficient response to state that in my opinion the city in all likelihood is under no obligation to accept the territory, notwithstanding the county court order granting the adjoining landowners' petition.

DISCUSSION

Subchapter 6 of title 14, chapter 40, sets forth a procedure whereby the owners of land adjoining a municipality may petition the county court to conduct a hearing and, if the allegations of the petition are supported by proof, to grant the petition and order annexation. The statutes further direct that any action relating to any such annexation be deferred for a period of 30 days to enable any interested person to challenge the annexation in circuit court. The circuit court may, upon making certain findings, annul the county court order and restrain any further action under it. Or it may affirm the county court order, in which case the proceedings to prevent annexation will be dismissed.

Of particular significance for purposes of your question, the annexation is effective upon acceptance by the city or town council:

If no notice shall be 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, by ordinance or resolution, accept the territory.

As noted by one commentator, "[t]his acceptance is mandatory, apparently on the theory that a city may not be compelled to accept territory it does not want...."

It thus appears that the city is under no obligation to accept territory embraced in a petition for annexation that has been granted by the county court. This is perhaps logical, under the premise that the city should be able to determine what its boundaries will be. It might also seem logical for the city to make that determination and convey its decision within some reasonable period of time following the entry of the county court order. However, there is no requirement to that effect on the face of the statutes. And without clarification by the legislature, I cannot read such a requirement into the statutory scheme. I am instead constrained in the issuance of legal opinions, as a court would be, to interpreting the plain language used by the legislative branch, and giving effect to that language absent an ambiguity.

Deputy Attorney General Elisabeth A. Walker prepared the foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve.

DUSTIN McDANIEL
Attorney General

DM:EAW/cyh