Can a fire department in one Arkansas county take over or fund a volunteer fire department in another county?

Plain-English summary

Senator Tyler Dees asked whether a fire department in one Arkansas county could oversee or fund a volunteer department in another county. His example involved the Siloam Springs Fire Department assuming authority over the Cincinnati Volunteer Fire Department if the named departments agreed.

The AG found no constitutional provision or statute expressly prohibiting the described scenario. That was not an approval of a particular takeover or funding plan. He said whether and how a department may exercise authority or provide support depends on how the departments were organized. The volunteer department may have a contract, bylaws, or ordinances that govern outside oversight and support. None of those documents was provided for his review.

The opinion describes several forms a volunteer department may take: a private nonprofit collecting dues, a fire-protection or suburban fire-improvement district, a county-created fire department, or a county-created subordinate-service district. The AG advised the department seeking to assume authority to determine how the volunteer department was formed and review its governing documents before deciding how to proceed.

What this means for you

If you lead a department considering cross-county oversight or funding

Start by identifying each department's legal form. Obtain the relevant contract, bylaws, or ordinances and review what they permit concerning oversight and financial support. The opinion supplies that method, but it does not approve the specific Siloam Springs and Cincinnati proposal or set out a merger procedure.

If you sit on a volunteer department board

Check which documents govern your organization and whether they address another department's oversight or support. The AG did not have the documents for the example in the request, so he could not say whether the proposed arrangement would be allowed under them.

Common questions

Did the AG find a statewide ban on cross-county fire department arrangements?

No. He said no constitutional provision or statute expressly prohibits the scenario described. He made any concrete answer depend on the departments' organization and governing documents.

Is agreement among the departments enough by itself?

The question assumed the named departments would agree, but the AG still directed them to examine how the volunteer department was formed and what its governing documents permit. He did not decide that agreement alone was sufficient.

Which organizational forms did the AG identify?

He listed private nonprofits funded by membership fees or dues, fire-protection and suburban fire-improvement districts, county-created fire departments, and county-created subordinate-service districts. The applicable contract, bylaws, or ordinances may differ by form.

Does the opinion prescribe a service contract or interlocal agreement?

No. It says existing contracts may govern a department, but it does not prescribe a new contract or an interlocal agreement for this proposal.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion cites A.C.A. §§ 14-20-108 and 14-284-225 for private nonprofit or subscription departments, fire-district provisions in Titles 14-92 and 14-284, A.C.A. § 14-20-108(c) for county-created departments, and §§ 14-14-708 and -709 for county-created subordinate-service districts. PDF footnote 1 cites AG Opinions 2022-013, 2013-008, 2008-134, and 2002-032 for the subscription model. PDF footnote 3 says no governing documents were supplied for this request.

Citations

Statutes:

• A.C.A. § 14-14-708 (county subordinate-service districts)
• A.C.A. § 14-20-108 (county-created and subscription fire departments)
• A.C.A. § 14-92-201 (suburban fire-improvement districts)
• A.C.A. § 14-284-101 (fire-protection districts)
• A.C.A. § 14-284-201 (fire-protection districts)
• A.C.A. § 14-284-225 (membership-based volunteer departments)

Other AG opinions:

• 2025-028, 2023-076, 2022-013, 2013-008, 2008-134, 2004-294, 2002-032, 2001-351, 99-346, 97-377, 96-114

Source

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

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2025-103

October 15, 2025

The Honorable Tyler Dees
State Senator
2584 North Hico Street
Siloam Springs, Arkansas 72761

Dear Senator Dees:

I am writing in response to your request for my opinion concerning volunteer fire departments. You ask three questions:

1. Does state law generally preclude a fire department in one county from exercising authority
   and oversight over a volunteer fire department in a separate county?

2. Does state law preclude a fire department in one county from funding and financially
   supporting a fire department located in a separate county?

3. Does anything in state law preclude the Siloam Springs Fire Department, which sits in
   Benton County, from assuming authority over the Cincinnati Volunteer Fire Department if
   all departments (Lincoln, Siloam, and Cincinnati) agree upon such an arrangement?

   Brief response: To answer all three questions together, no constitutional provision or
   statute expressly prohibits the scenario you describe. But whether a fire
   department may exercise authority over or provide funding to a volunteer
   fire department depends on how the respective fire departments are
   organized. The volunteer fire department in question may operate under a
   contract, bylaws, or ordinances that dictate the terms under which another
   fire department may exercise oversight or provide support.

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Does state law generally preclude a fire department in one county from exercising authority and oversight over a volunteer fire department in a separate county?

Question 2: Does state law preclude a fire department in one county from funding and financially supporting a fire department located in a separate county?
BOB R. BROOKS JR. JUSTICE BUILDING
101 WEST CAPITOL AVENUE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201

The Honorable Tyler Dees
State Senator
Opinion No. 2025-103
Page 2

Question 3: Does anything in state law preclude the Siloam Springs Fire Department, which sits in Benton County, from assuming authority over the Cincinnati Volunteer Fire Department if all departments (Lincoln, Siloam, and Cincinnati) agree upon such an arrangement?

Generally, no constitutional provision or statute expressly prohibits the scenario you describe. But how a fire department may exercise authority over a volunteer fire department—and how it funds that department—depends on how the respective fire departments are organized.

This Office has long opined that there are several forms of “volunteer fire departments”:

• Private, nonprofit corporations collecting membership fees or dues under A.C.A.
§§ 14-20-108 or 14-284-225; 1

• Fire-protection districts that access local benefits to be collected with ad valorem taxes under either A.C.A. §§ 14-284-101 et seq. or §§ 14-284-201 et seq., or suburban fire- improvement districts that access local benefits to be collected with ad valorem taxes under A.C.A. § 14-92-201, et seq.;

• County-created fire departments under A.C.A. § 14-20-108(c); or

• County-created subordinate-service districts under §§ 14-14-708 and -709. 2

Thus, depending on how the volunteer fire department in question was formed, it could operate under a contract, bylaws, or ordinances that dictate whether and how another fire department may exercise oversight or provide support. 3 The acquiring fire department would want to first determine how the volunteer fire department was formed and then review the applicable governing documents to determine how best to proceed.

Assistant Attorney General William R. Olson prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.

Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General

1
This Office has concluded that § 14-20-108 generally concerns volunteer fire departments organized as private, nonprofit corporations or “subscription” fire departments. See Ark. Att’y Gen. Ops. 2022-013, 2013-008, 2008-134, 2002-032. 2 E.g., Ark. Att’y Gen. Ops. 2025-028, 2023-076, 2022-013, 2008-134, 2004-294, 2001-351, 99-346, 97-377, 96-114.
3
No such documents were provided for my review.