DECATUR -- The city of Decatur's annexation ordinance hit a major obstacle as it was ready to go before the city council meeting Nov. 11 for its second reading.
While going through last-minute preparation for Monday night's council meeting on the annexation of certain lands into the city of Decatur, Mayor Bob Tharp was reviewing the state law regarding annexation under the election process as published in the "Municipal Annexation, Incorporation and Other Boundary Changes" which was updated in 2019. In this summary of annexation law, Tharp found a major problem that threatens to derail the ordinance.
The 89th General Assembly (in 2013) adopted Senate Bill 531, "An Act to Amend the Law Concerning the Requirements for Annexation." The bill (which became Act 1072) modified Arkansas Code 14-40-302 and specified requirements for eligibility to annex parcels of land into a city by an election. Section (b)(1) of the code requires the approval of the county judge and the mayor before annexing lands on which there are no inhabitants.
"During the process of reviewing this, I discovered that lands without residents have to be released by the county judge and the mayor," Tharp stated. "The ordinance as it was going to be presented on the second reading during Monday night's council meeting did not qualify since I did not execute the meeting with the county judge to get those released."
According to Tharp, city attorney Michael Nutt, a county attorney and a Municipal League attorney did not know this was the case until they reviewed the law at Tharp's request.
After contacting Benton County Judge Barry Moehring in regard to this issue, Moehring stated that he will not approve the land in question as stated in the proposed Decatur ordinance.
"Therefore, the ordinance will not be considered on Monday night for a second reading or subsequently passed as an ordinance in the near future," Tharp explained.
General News on 11/13/2019