City of Highfill; Chris Holland, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Mayor of Highfill; Dustin Kahrl; Jeremy Johnson; And Rick Sayre v. Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority and Tim Griffin, in His Official Capacity as Attorney General of Arkansas

2025 Ark. 14

• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas
• Decided: February 27, 2025
• Status: Published

Opinion

Cite as 2025 Ark. 14 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS No. CV-24-836

Opinion Delivered: February 27, 2025 CITY OF HIGHFILL; CHRIS HOLLAND, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN APPEAL FROM THE BENTON HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT MAYOR OF HIGHFILL; DUSTIN [NO. 04CV-23-2800] KAHRL; JEREMY JOHNSON; AND RICK SAYRE MOTION OF SEPARATE APPELLEE APPELLANTS/CROSS-APPELLEES NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY TO DISMISS APPEAL V.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY APPELLEE AND

TIM GRIFFIN, IN HIS OFFICIAL MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL CAPACITY AS ATTORNEY GRANTED; DIRECT APPEAL GENERAL OF ARKANSAS DISMISSED; CROSS-APPEAL APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT DISMISSED.

NICHOLAS J. BRONNI, Associate Justice

There are two appeals at issue here: the City of Highfill’s direct appeal and the State’s

cross-appeal. The former is moot; the latter is improper; and both must be dismissed.

Start with Highfill’s direct appeal. Below, Highfill sought to “enjoin [the Northwest

Arkansas Regional Airport Authority] from filing a Petition for Detachment under Act

769.” Following a hearing, the circuit court indicated that it intended to deny Highfill’s

preliminary injunction motion. The Airport Authority then filed its detachment petition,

and after that, the circuit court issued a written order denying Highfill’s motion. Highfill thereafter appealed that denial. Thus, by the time Highfill filed its notice of appeal, the

action it sought to enjoin—the “filing of a Petition for detachment”—had already occurred.

And nothing this court might do on appeal will change that result. That makes Highfill’s

appeal moot, and as such, it is dismissed. See Gray v. Thomas-Barnes, 2015 Ark. 426, 5, 474

S.W.3d 876, 879 (2015) (“a case becomes moot when any judgment rendered would have

no practical legal effect upon a then existing legal controversy”).

The State’s cross-appeal fares no better. The State cross-appeals “the Circuit Court’s

October 29, 2024 Order denying Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction” and its

“hold[ing]” that Arkansas Code Annotated section 14-362-306(g) “violates the separation-

of-powers doctrine contained in Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution.” From the

State’s perspective, even if the preliminary injunction dispute is moot, it was “separately

harmed” by the circuit court’s statements concerning section 14-362-306’s

constitutionality—a harm it believes this court can remedy.

Yet it’s hard to see what the State would have us review. No one asked the circuit

court to preliminarily enjoin section 14-362-306, and the circuit court did not grant any

such relief. Instead, the only preliminary relief anyone sought was an injunction against the

Airport Authority seeking detachment. So, at most, the circuit court’s statements about

section 14-362-306 merely indicate that it is likely to find that provision unconstitutional on

final judgment. And Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure—Civil 2(a)(6)’s language

granting us jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals from the denial of a preliminary

injunction does not empower us to review such stray comments. See Monticello Healthcare

Ctr., LLC v. Forrest, 2010 Ark. 340, at 7 (2010).

Indeed, it should be obvious, but there’s no such thing as preliminary declaratory 2 relief. Statements finding a statute is likely unconstitutional without a corresponding

injunction have no legal effect. Absent that, section 14-362-306 remains the law, and there

is nothing for us to review. The State’s cross-appeal is therefore improper and outside our

appellate jurisdiction. It too is dismissed.

Motion to dismiss granted; direct appeal dismissed; cross-appeal dismissed.

Kutak Rock LLP, by: Jess Askew III, McKenzie L. Raub, and Kyle Unser; Williams Law

Firm, by: Jay B. Williams, for appellants.

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C., by: John Keeling Baker and

Audra K. Hamilton, for appellee Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority.

Tim Griffin, Att’y Gen., by: Laura L. Purvis, Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee Tim Griffin,

in his official capacity as Attorney General of Arkansas.