How did Arkansas Act 1077 of 2019 change the way a fire department converts to a fire protection district?

Plain-English summary

Twelfth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue had previously asked the AG fifteen questions about how a Sebastian County fire department becomes a fire protection district under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226. The AG answered those questions on April 2, 2019, in Opinion 2018-136. Eight days later, on April 17, 2019, Act 1077 of 2019 took effect and rewrote § 14-284-226(b). Mr. Shue's follow-up: did the new law change any of the earlier answers?

The AG said yes. Several earlier answers, especially the ones about whether subchapter-2 procedures applied to a conversion petition, were now moot or substantively different.

The Act's key changes:

• The fire department's governing body, not the department generally, makes the petition. Act 1077 added "[t]he governing body of a" to subsection (a).
• A quorum court "shall grant the petition to convert the fire department to a fire protection district within sixty (60) days of receipt of the petition." This is a hard deadline, not a discretionary review.
• The quorum court can ask for clarification in writing, but cannot delay the 60-day clock.
• Subsection (b)(1) no longer says the conversion shall use "the procedures set out in this subchapter." That removal mooted Question 1 of Op. 2018-136 entirely and changed the answers to Questions 2, 3, and 4 (no public hearing required).
• The new fire protection district's assessments "shall be listed annually beginning with the next ad valorem real property tax statement and collected under § 14-284-216."

Question 5 of the prior opinion asked about Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-208 (the "Order for Establishment" provision). The answer remained "yes," but the analysis changed: under the amended scheme, the ordinance is "sustained" when the quorum court grants the petition within 60 days. Questions 12 and 13 about timeframes were also rewritten because the 60-day clock now governs.

The other Op. 2018-136 questions (6 through 11, 14, 15) were unaffected and the AG did not revisit them.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What is a fire protection district, and why convert from a fire department?
A: A fire protection district is a public taxing entity under Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-284-201 et seq. that can levy assessments on real property within its boundaries. A municipal or volunteer fire department typically depends on city budget allocations or donations, so converting to a district gives stable funding through ad valorem assessments. Act 1077 streamlined the conversion process for fire departments that wanted that funding model.

Q: What does "60 days" mean in practice?
A: It means the quorum court has a hard deadline to grant the petition. The court can ask for clarification by writing back to the fire department within those 60 days, but the act says the response cannot delay the deadline. After 60 days the petition is to be granted.

Q: Does the public get any input on the conversion?
A: Under the post-Act-1077 framework, the AG read the statute as not requiring a public hearing on the petition. That was a significant change from the prior version, which required following subchapter-2 procedures (which did include hearing and ratification steps).

Q: When do the assessments start showing up on tax bills?
A: "Annually beginning with the next ad valorem real property tax statement," per the new § 14-284-226(b)(2), with collection under § 14-284-216.

Q: Why didn't the AG re-answer all 15 prior questions?
A: AG opinions usually only revisit what changed. The AG explicitly said it would "not revisit the other questions because Act 1077 does not change those answers." Op. 2018-136 still controls for the unchanged questions.

Background and statutory framework

Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226 sits in subchapter 2 of chapter 284 of title 14, the Rural and Suburban Fire Protection District Act framework. Before Act 1077, subsection (b) read:

Upon the request by petition in subsection (a) of this section:
(1) The quorum court shall grant the petition to convert the fire department to a fire protection district; and
(2) The fire department shall become a fire protection district using the procedures set out in this subchapter.

The reference to "the procedures set out in this subchapter" was the hook for Op. 2018-136's analysis. Subchapter 2 contains procedural steps for forming a new district from scratch: petition, public hearing, ordinance, ratification by district residents, and an order from the county court. Op. 2018-136 had walked Mr. Shue through how those steps applied in the conversion context.

Act 1077 of 2019, § 6, removed the cross-reference to subchapter procedures and replaced subsection (b) with the new framework. Conversion is now its own track: a fire department's governing body petitions, the quorum court grants the petition within 60 days, and the assessments roll onto the next tax statement.

The AG's reading of "sustained" in § 14-284-208 is the bridge that keeps the order-of-establishment requirement intact. Section 14-284-208(a)(1) requires the county court to enter an order if "an ordinance of the quorum court establishing a district is sustained." Pre-Act-1077, an ordinance was sustained through the ratification process. Post-Act-1077, in a conversion context, the quorum court's grant of the petition within 60 days plays the same role.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226 (entire section, as amended by Act 1077 of 2019)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226(a) (governing-body petition; Act 1077 added "[t]he governing body of a")
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226(b)(1)(A) (60-day grant requirement)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226(b)(1)(B) (written response option, no delay)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226(b)(2) (assessment listing on next tax statement)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-216 (assessment collection)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-208(a)(1) (county court establishment order)
• Acts 2019, No. 1077, § 6

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2019-032
July 31, 2019

The Honorable Daniel Shue
Prosecuting Attorney
Twelfth Judicial District
901 South B Street, Suite 209
Fort Smith, AR 72901

Dear Mr. Shue:

This is in response to your request for my opinion concerning Act 1077 of 2019 and Attorney General Opinion 2018-136.

Opinion 2018-136 was issued to you on April 2, 2019, in response to your fifteen questions concerning Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226 (Supp. 2017). Act 1077, which as you note, became effective on April 17, 2019, amended § 14-284-226. You have now asked whether the passage of Act 1077 changes any of the answers in Opinion 2018-136.

RESPONSE

Yes, I believe Act 1077 changes the answers to several of the questions addressed in Attorney General Opinion 2018-136. I will revisit those questions here, but I will not revisit the other questions because Act 1077 does not change those answers.

DISCUSSION

Act 1077 of 2018 amended several statutes related to fire protection districts, including Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226, which was the subject of Attorney General Opinion 2018-136. When that opinion was issued, subsection (b) of § 14-284-226 stated:

(b) Upon the request by petition in subsection (a) of this section:
(1) The quorum court shall grant the petition to convert the fire department to a fire protection district; and
(2) The fire department shall become a fire protection district using the procedures set out in this subchapter.

Subsection (b) was substantially revised by Act 1077. It now states:

(b)(1)(A) Upon the request by petition in subsection (a) of this section, the quorum court shall grant the petition to convert the fire department to a fire protection district within sixty (60) days of receipt of the petition.

(B) The quorum court shall respond in writing to the fire department within the sixty-day period under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of this section if there are issues or questions the quorum court would like addressed in the petition, but in no event shall the quorum court delay the sixty-day period under subdivision (b)(1)(A) of this section.

(2) The fire protection district assessments shall be listed annually beginning with the next ad valorem real property tax statement and collected under § 14-284-216.

As you can see, subsection (b)(1) no longer states that "[t]he fire department shall become a fire protection district using the procedures set out in this subchapter." (Emphasis added). Several of the questions asked in Opinion 2018-136, and my answers to them, were based upon this emphasized language. The passage of Act 1077, therefore, changes those answers. Thus, I will revisit only those questions.

Question 1 - What subchapter does Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-226 refer [to] with regard to the procedure to be followed?

Because section 14-284-226 no longer requires "using the procedures set out in this subchapter," this question is moot.

Question 2: Should Sebastian County follow the procedures set forth in Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-204?

Question 3: Should there be a public hearing in the proposed fire districts before an ordinance is presented to the Sebastian County Quorum Court?

Question 4: Does the Sebastian County Quorum Court enact an ordinance based upon these petitions and set a public hearing to review the ordinance after passage and subject to ratification by a majority of residents in the proposed fire districts?

The answer to each of these questions is "no" because of Act 1077. Under subsection (a) of section 14-284-226, as amended, "[t]he governing body of a fire department that seeks to become a fire protection district shall make the request by petition to the quorum court...." There is no public hearing on such a petition by the fire department's governing body because section 14-284-226 no longer requires that the procedures in subchapter 2 of Title 14, Chapter 284 be used in order for a fire department to become a fire protection district. Act 1077 simply amended the statute to require a quorum court to "grant the petition to convert the fire department to a fire protection district within sixty (60) days of receipt of the petition."

Question 5: Is Ark. Code Ann. § 14-284-208 "Order for Establishment, Board of Commissioners, Appointment, Compensation" to be followed?

The answer to this question is still "yes," but the analysis differs. In relevant part, section 14-284-208 requires the county court to enter an order establishing the district "if an ordinance of the quorum court establishing a district is sustained." In the context of a fire department's petition for conversion pursuant to section 14-284-226, this must be read to include the quorum court's grant of a petition within the established 60-day period. If the quorum court wants any "issues or questions" to be addressed, it can "respond in writing to the fire department." But it must do so within 60 days of the petition filing. And there can be no delay of the 60-day period for granting the petition. In the terms of section 14-284-208, an ordinance is sustained when the petition is granted within this time frame.

Question 12: What are the deadlines and timeframes for the assessment in order to meet the dates for publishing the tax book and sending tax statements pursuant to law?

A fire department's petition to convert to a fire protection district must be granted within 60 days. And the district's assessments "shall be listed annually beginning with the next ad valorem real property tax statement...."

Question 13: What are the deadlines and timeframe for the implementation of the conversion?

See my response to Question 12.

Sincerely,

LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General