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Committee advances annexation bill banning emergency clauses and one-night three-readings
Summary
House Bill 1250 would bar cities from using emergency clauses to read and pass annexation-election ordinances three times in one night, after sponsors said a Rogers annexation left property owners unaware and unable to address council before an election; the committee passed the bill by voice vote.
Representative Douglas introduced House Bill 1250 as a property-rights measure to prevent cities from attaching emergency clauses to annexation-election ordinances and from reading an annexation ordinance three times in a single meeting to rush an election onto the books.
Douglas said the bill was prompted by a Northwest Arkansas example in which the City of Rogers set an annexation election, read the ordinance three times in one night and passed it, leaving affected property owners unaware and without an opportunity to address their city councilors. "They read it 3 times in 1 night and passed it... So nobody being annexed or in the proposed annexation area knew what was going on or had a chance to speak," Douglas said.
Mark Hayes of the Arkansas Municipal League told the committee there are statutory notice requirements and that annexations can occur through several methods; he described elections as a less commonly used method and noted the league provides municipal training and certification programs. Hayes said notice requirements exist but acknowledged that the contested action was the city council's expedited readings and vote.
Committee members raised practical impacts of involuntary annexation on rural property — including changes to building codes, restrictions on discharging firearms, and utility differences — and emphasized the need for property owners to have an opportunity to be heard. Members cited a recent example of several hundred acres between Bentonville and Cave Springs near the airport where landowners only learned of an election after seeing a notice in the paper.
After debate and no public testimony at the table, the committee moved and passed HB1250 by voice vote (tally not specified). The chair noted people had signed up on House Bill 1041 but the committee would not run that measure that day. HB1250 will move forward in the legislative process.
