When a Regional Intermodal Facility in Arkansas wants to award a public works contract, buy commodities, or sell off real or personal property, does the state procurement law apply to it the way it applies to a state agency?
Plain-English summary
State Representative Rick Beck asked AG Tim Griffin four questions about a Regional Intermodal Facility in his district: whether state procurement law applied to its contracts, what state laws applied to its contracts, whether it was exempt from procurement laws when using public funds, and whether anything restricted its sale of real or personal property.
Griffin's answers came down to one structural point: Regional Intermodal Facilities (RIFs) are creatures of the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act, and the Act expressly says these facilities are "public corporations" formed by counties or municipalities, governed by their own boards, and not required to comply with general public-facility laws except as the Act itself specifies.
The Arkansas Procurement Law applies to "state agencies." A "state agency" is defined as "an agency, institution, authority, department, board, commission, bureau, council, or other agency of the state supported by appropriation of state or federal funds." A 2012 AG opinion (No. 2012-076) had reached the same conclusion for research park authorities under a parallel statute, and Griffin found the same reasoning applied. The RIF can sue and be sued, has its own board, and the legislature said the Act "shall be the sole authority required for the accomplishment of its purpose." The AG concluded the RIF is not a "state agency" and not subject to the Arkansas Procurement Law.
That said, the procurement law also applies to "the disposal of state commodities." If a Regional Intermodal Facility happened to hold property that constitutes a "state commodity" (a defined term), the procurement law could apply to that disposal. The AG did not have facts to determine whether that was the case here.
For Questions 2, 3, and 4, the answer ran through Ark. Code Ann. § 14-143-129. That section says the RIF is "not required to comply with the general provisions of law dealing with public facilities, their acquisition, construction, leasing, encumbering, or disposition," with a carve-out for specific public-utility statutes. The Act's own provisions on facility leasing, land acquisition, borrowing, funding, and asset sales control.
What this means for you
If you serve on a Regional Intermodal Facility board, your facility is governed primarily by the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act, not by general state public-facility laws or the Arkansas Procurement Law. Board members should understand that this gives the facility significant autonomy in contracting and asset disposition, but the Act itself imposes its own procedural and substantive requirements that need to be followed. Local accountability runs through the originating county or municipality, not state-level procurement oversight.
If you are a contractor bidding on RIF projects, you should not assume that the bid procedures and selection criteria that apply to state agency procurement also apply to RIF contracts. Each RIF likely has its own bidding policies; check what those are before responding. Public-utility-related work may pull in additional statutes, but most contracting will run on the RIF's own rules.
If you are county or municipal counsel for a community considering forming a RIF, the breadth of § 14-143-129 is the key feature: a RIF can move faster than a state agency in acquiring land, building facilities, and disposing of property. That's a feature for economic development purposes but also a public-accountability question your local elected officials should think through.
If you are a state legislator, this opinion helps clarify the regulatory boundary. RIFs are not part of the general state-agency procurement framework, and amending the Arkansas Procurement Law would not change that without amendments to the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act itself or to § 19-61-103(30)(A).
Background and statutory framework
The Regional Intermodal Facilities Act (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-143-101 through 130) lets counties and municipalities form public corporations to develop, finance, build, lease, and operate intermodal transportation infrastructure, including facilities for moving freight or passengers between rail, road, water, and air modes. The corporations have their own boards (§ 14-143-105), can sue and be sued (§ 14-143-104), and operate under broad enabling powers laid out in the Act.
Ark. Code Ann. § 14-143-129 is the linchpin of this opinion. It says the RIF is not required to comply with general laws on public facilities except as provided for in the Act, and that the Act "shall be liberally construed to accomplish its intent and purposes and shall be the sole authority required for the accomplishment of its purpose." That same language appeared in the Research Park Authority Act and led to the same result in 2012 AG Op. 2012-076.
The Arkansas Procurement Law (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 19-61-101 through 117) governs every expenditure of public funds by the state acting through a state agency, and the disposal of state commodities. "State agency" is defined narrowly at § 19-61-103(30)(A) to cover entities of the state supported by state or federal appropriations. Public corporations chartered by counties or municipalities don't fit that definition.
Common questions
Q: What is a Regional Intermodal Facility?
A: A public corporation formed by a county or municipality (or a combination) under the Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facilities Act to develop and operate intermodal transportation infrastructure. Common examples include freight terminals connecting rail and trucking, river port facilities, or multimodal logistics hubs.
Q: Does the AG's opinion mean RIFs can ignore competitive bidding entirely?
A: No. RIFs are not subject to the Arkansas Procurement Law, but they may have their own bidding rules adopted by their board, and the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act has its own procedural requirements. Local government formation documents may also impose competitive-bidding requirements as a matter of local accountability.
Q: What about state grants or federal money the RIF receives?
A: Federal funds usually come with their own procurement and audit requirements (e.g., 2 C.F.R. Part 200 for federal grants). Those federal requirements apply regardless of whether the recipient is a state agency under Arkansas law. State grants may have grant-specific terms. The AG's opinion did not address those funding-condition questions.
Q: Is real estate owned by a RIF treated like state property?
A: No. The opinion confirmed that general state laws on disposing of public facilities do not apply, except as the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act provides. The RIF can sell or lease its property under the Act's own rules, which are typically broader and more flexible than state-agency rules.
Q: What if the RIF holds something that qualifies as a "state commodity"?
A: Then the Arkansas Procurement Law could apply to the disposal of that commodity. "Commodities" is defined at Ark. Code Ann. § 19-61-103(4). The AG did not have facts to determine whether the facility in question held any state commodities, so this remained an open question for that specific facility.
Q: How does this opinion compare to AG Op. 2012-076?
A: AG Op. 2012-076 addressed the Research Park Authority Act and reached the same conclusion: a research park authority is not a state agency under the procurement law because it is a public corporation with its own board and the act sets out the sole authority for its activities. Griffin extended that reasoning to RIFs because the underlying statutory structure is parallel.
Citations and references
Arkansas statutes:
- Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-143-101 through 130 (Regional Intermodal Facilities Act)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-143-104 (sue/be sued)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-143-105 (board management)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-143-129 (Act controls over conflicting general law)
- Ark. Code Ann. §§ 19-61-101 through 117 (Arkansas Procurement Law)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 19-61-103(4) (commodities definition)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 19-61-103(30)(A) (state agency definition)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 19-61-104(a)(1)(A)-(B) (coverage of procurement law)
Prior AG opinions discussed:
- Arkansas AG Opinion 2012-076 (research park authorities not subject to Procurement Law)
Source
Original opinion text
BOB R. BROOKS JR. JUSTICE BUILDING
101 WEST CAPITOL AVENUE
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201
Opinion No. 2026-019
April 3, 2026
The Honorable Rick Beck
State Representative
1091 Dutton Mountain Road
Center Ridge, Arkansas 72027
Dear Representative Beck:
I am writing in response to your request for my opinion regarding a facility in your district that was formed under the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act. You ask the following four questions:
- Do Arkansas procurement laws apply to a Regional Intermodal Facility when contracting for: public works construction projects; commodities; or professional services?
Brief response: No. Arkansas procurement laws apply to state agencies, but Regional Intermodal Facilities are public corporations that are not entities of the state. If a Regional Intermodal Facility possessed "state commodities," then the Arkansas Procurement Law could apply. But I lack sufficient facts to determine whether that is the case here.
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What provisions of Arkansas law apply to any contracts entered by and between Regional Intermodal Facilities that concern or involve public funds, public works construction projects, commodities, or other services?
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Does Arkansas law exempt Regional Intermodal Facilities from state laws regarding contracts for: public works construction projects; commodities; or procurement of professional services with public funds?
-
What Arkansas law, if any, prohibits or restricts the sale of real or personal property owned by a Regional Intermodal Facility?
Brief response: To answer these three questions together, the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act controls over conflicting law. Under A.C.A. § 14-143-129, a Regional Intermodal Facility is not required "to comply with the general provisions of law dealing with public facilities, their acquisition, construction, leasing, encumbering, or disposition," except as provided for under the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act.
DISCUSSION
Question 1
The Arkansas Procurement Law, A.C.A. §§ 19-61-101 to -117, applies to "[e]very expenditure of public funds by this state, acting through a state agency, under any contract" and to "[t]he disposal of state commodities." Thus, whether a Regional Intermodal Facility is subject to the Arkansas Procurement Law depends on whether it qualifies as a "state agency." A "state agency" includes "an agency, institution, authority, department, board, commission, bureau, council, or other agency of the state supported by appropriation of state or federal funds."
One of my predecessors addressed a similar situation in the context of a research park authority, opining that the authority was not a "state agency" subject to the Arkansas Procurement Law for the following reasons: the research park authority was a "'public corporation' that can sue and be sued"; management and control of the authority was vested in a separate board; and "perhaps most significantly," the legislature "expressed its intent that the Research Park Authority Act 'be liberally construed to accomplish its intent and purposes and shall be the sole authority required for the accomplishment of its purpose.'" Ark. Att'y Gen. Op. 2012-076.
In my opinion, the same reasoning applies to Regional Intermodal Facilities. Such facilities are "public corporations" created by municipalities or counties that can sue and be sued; their management and control is vested in a separate board; and the Regional Intermodal Facility Act contains the same language as the Research Park Authority Act: "This chapter shall be liberally construed to accomplish its intent and purposes and shall be the sole authority required for the accomplishment of its purpose." A.C.A. § 14-143-129. Thus, it is my opinion that a Regional Intermodal Facility is not a "state agency" subject to the Arkansas Procurement Law.
As mentioned above, the Arkansas Procurement Law also applies to the "disposal of state commodities." To the extent that a Regional Intermodal Facility holds property that constitutes a "state commodity," the Arkansas Procurement Law could apply. But I lack sufficient facts to determine whether that is the case here.
Questions 2, 3, and 4
Generally, under the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act, it is not "necessary to comply with the general provisions of other law dealing with public facilities, their acquisition, construction, leasing, encumbering, or disposition," except to the extent provided for in specific statutes concerning public utilities. A.C.A. § 14-143-129(1). Therefore, the Regional Intermodal Facilities Act and its provisions concerning leasing facilities, acquiring and leasing land, borrowing money, funding facilities, and selling assets apply.
Assistant Attorney General William R. Olson prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General