The North Little Rock City Council adopted three first‑reading emergency ordinances that declare audiovisual (AV) services, catering services and staffing agencies to be professional services under Arkansas law. Each ordinance was presented as a first reading with a motion to suspend the remaining readings; the council approved the suspensions and adopted the emergency ordinances.

City staff said the measures are intended to allow the city to procure AV packages, catering and temporary staffing for the new conference center and for other departments (for example, sanitation and street services) through a qualifications‑based selection rather than by taking the lowest bid each time. Under Arkansas procurement rules cited by staff, council approval of such a designation allows the city to evaluate vendors on qualifications, insurance and specialized requirements—such as workers’‑comp coverage for temporary staffing—then negotiate price where appropriate.

City staff said the conference center will create recurring needs for AV and catering packages and that relying on annual qualifications or a prequalified vendor pool avoids the impracticality of issuing competitive bids for every event. For staffing agencies, staff said sanitation has spent more than $200,000 on multiple temporary agencies and that the city often uses temp staff for leaf pickup and seasonal work; the staff ordinance would permit qualification‑based contracts with a non‑appropriation clause if multiyear agreements are used.

Council members discussed contract length, non‑appropriation language, and oversight by the architect/engineer (A&E) process. Staff said the city generally prefers one‑year contracts and would include non‑appropriation clauses for multi‑year agreements.

All three ordinances passed on recorded votes and included emergency clauses so they take effect immediately, allowing staff to begin the qualifications process in advance of the conference center opening.