§ 14-14-905 — Adoption and amendment of ordinances generally

(a) Introduction of Ordinances and Amendments to Existing Ordinances. A county ordinance or amendment to an ordinance may be introduced only by a justice of the peace of the county or through the provisions of initiative and referendum pursuant to Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 7. (b) Style Requirements. (1) Generally. (A) No ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance passed by a county quorum court shall contain more than one (1) comprehensive topic and shall be styled "Be It Enacted by the Quorum Court of the County of ..............., State of Arkansas; an Ordinance to be Entitled:". (B) Each ordinance shall contain this comprehensive title, and the body of the ordinance shall be divided into articles, sequentially numbered, each expressing a single general topic related to the single comprehensive topic. (2) Amendment to Existing Ordinances. No county ordinance shall be revised or amended, or the provisions thereof extended or conferred, by reference to its title only, but so much thereof as is revised, amended, extended, or conferred shall be reenacted and published at length. (c) Passage. (1) (A) On the passage of every ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance, the yeas and nays shall be called and recorded. (B) A concurrence by a majority of the whole number of members elected to the quorum court shall be required to pass any ordinance or amendment. (2) (A) All ordinances or amendments to existing ordinances of a general or permanent nature shall be fully and distinctly read on three (3) different days unless two-thirds (2/3) of the members composing the court shall dispense with the rule. (B) This subdivision (c)(2) shall not serve to: (i) Require a vote after each individual reading, but a vote only after the third and final reading; (ii) Require the ordinance or amendment to be read in its entirety on the first, second, or third reading; or (iii) Restrict the passage of emergency, appropriation, initiative, or referendum measures in a single meeting as provided by law. (d) Approval and Publication. (1) (A) Upon passage, all ordinances or amendments shall be approved by the county judge within seven (7) days unless vetoed and shall become law without his or her signature if not signed within seven (7) days. (B) The ordinances or amendments shall then be published by the county clerk as prescribed by law. (2) (A) Approval by the county judge shall be demonstrated by affixing his or her signature and his or her notation of the date signed on the face of an original copy of the proposed ordinance. (B) This approval and authentication shall apply to all ordinances or amendments to existing ordinances unless the power of veto is invoked. (e) Effective Date. (1) No ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance other than an emergency ordinance or appropriation ordinance shall be effective until thirty (30) calendar days after publication has appeared. (2) An ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance may provide for a delayed effective date or may provide for the ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance to become effective upon the fulfillment of an indicated contingency. (f) Reference to Electors. (1) Generally. (A) (i) At the time of or within thirty (30) days of adoption and prior to the effective date of an ordinance, a quorum court may refer the ordinance to the electors for their acceptance or rejection. (ii) The referral shall be in the form of a resolution and shall require a three-fifths affirmative vote of the whole number of justices constituting a quorum court. (B) This action by a court shall not be subject to veto and shall constitute a referendum measure. (2) Manner and Procedure. (A) Any ordinance enacted by the governing body of any county in the state may be referred to a vote of the electors of the county for approval or rejection in the manner and procedure prescribed in Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 7, and laws enacted pursuant thereto, for exercising the local initiative and referendum. (B) The manner and procedure prescribed therein shall be the exclusive method of exercising the initiative and referendum regarding these local measures.

Legislative History

Acts 1977, No. 742, § 86; 1981, No. 220, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 17-4003, 17-4003.1; Acts 2005, No. 543, § 1.