14-38-115. Alternative method of incorporation — Petition and election.

14-38-115. Alternative method of incorporation — Petition and election. (a)(1) In addition to the procedures for incorporating a city or town under §§ 14-38-101 — 14-38-108, the inhabitants of a part of any county not embraced within the limits of any city or incorporated town may apply to the county judge of the proper county to call for an election on the issue of incorporating a city or town and for electing municipal officials if the following conditions are met: (A) The territory proposed to be incorporated has at least one thousand five hundred (1,500) inhabitants according to the most recent federal decennial census; and (B) The county judge is presented a written petition that: (i) Meets the requirements of subdivision (a)(2) of this section; and (ii) Is signed by at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the qualified voters who reside in the territory proposed to be incorporated. (2) The petition shall: (A) Describe the territory proposed to be embraced in the incorporated city or town and have attached to it an accurate map or plat of the territory; (B) State the name proposed for the incorporated city or town; and (C) Name the persons authorized to act in behalf of the petitioners in prosecuting the petition. (b) The county judge shall not approve a petition for incorporation of any city or town if any portion of the territory proposed to be incorporated is ineligible under the criteria in § 14-38-101(b). (c) If a petition for incorporation is presented to the county judge, it shall be filed in the office of the county clerk to be kept there, subject to the inspection of any persons interested, until the time appointed for a public hearing on the petition. (d)(1) Upon the filing of a petition for incorporation, the county judge shall set the time for a public hearing on the petition and shall communicate to the petitioners or their agent a time and place for the hearing that shall be not less than thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition. (2)(A) The petitioners or their agent shall publish a notice in some newspaper of general circulation in the county for not less than three (3) consecutive weeks. (B) The notice shall contain the substance of the petition and state the time and place set for the public hearing. (e) The county judge shall hold the public hearing at the time and place determined, and the procedure for a hearing set forth in § 14-38-103 shall be followed in the proceedings concerned in this section to the extent applicable. (f)(1) After the hearing, if the county judge is satisfied that the procedures for filing the petition for incorporation were followed, that the requirements for signatures under subsection (a) of this section have been met, that the limits of the territory to be incorporated have been accurately described and an accurate map was made and filed, and if the prayer of the petitioner is right and proper, then the county judge shall enter an order that: (A) Grants the petition to hold an election on the date of the next election; and (B) Sets the date of the next election as the date of the election on the issue of incorporating the city or town and electing officers. (2) The order shall be recorded by the clerk of the county. (g)(1)(A) If the county judge orders an election on the issue of incorporation, the county clerk shall notify the county election commission at least sixty (60) days before the election that the issue of incorporation shall also appear on the election ballot for a proposed city or incorporated town. (B)(i) No later than forty-five (45) days prior to the election, the county clerk shall identify all persons who reside within the territory proposed to be incorporated, and the county clerk shall determine the names and addresses of all qualified electors residing within that territory. (ii) The failure to identify all persons residing within the territory proposed to be incorporated or the failure to determine the names and addresses of all qualified electors residing within that territory shall not invalidate or otherwise affect the results of the election. (C) All qualified electors residing within the territory to be incorporated shall be entitled to vote on the issue of incorporation. (D) The county clerk shall give notice of the election by publication by at least one (1) insertion in some newspaper having a general circulation in the county. (2)(A) The county clerk shall prepare a list by precinct of all those qualified electors residing within the territory to be incorporated who are qualified to vote in that precinct and furnish that list to the election officials. (B) The county clerk shall give notice of the voter registration deadlines at least forty (40) days before the election by ordinary mail to those persons whose names and addresses are on the list. (3) The election on the issue of incorporation shall be held in accordance with the procedures established for other municipal elections, and the ballot for the election shall be printed substantially as follows: “[ ] FOR THE INCORPORATION OF THE CITY (OR TOWN) OF (NAME OF PROPOSED CITY OR INCORPORATED TOWN), ARKANSAS. [ ] AGAINST THE INCORPORATION OF THE CITY (OR TOWN) OF (NAME OF PROPOSED CITY OR INCORPORATED TOWN), ARKANSAS.” (4) No later than seven (7) days following the election, the county clerk shall: (A) Certify the election results; (B) Record the election results in the county records; and (C) File a certified copy with the county judge. (h)(1)(A) If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the issue of incorporation in the election vote for the issue, then the county clerk shall no later than seven (7) days following the election: (i) Certify the election results; (ii) Record the election results in the county records; and (iii) File a certified copy with the Secretary of State. (B) Upon the county clerk's filing of the election results, the county judge shall: (i) Approve the petition of incorporation as ratified by the voters; and (ii) Endorse on the petition an order that the city or incorporated town as named and described in the petition is organized and that the petition shall be granted. (C)(i) The order, petition, and map or plat shall be signed and delivered to the county recorder to record them in the proper records and to file and preserve in his or her office the original papers, having certified on the papers that they have been properly recorded. (ii)(a) It shall also be the duty of the recorder to make out and certify, under his or her official seal, two (2) transcripts of the record. (b) The recorder shall forward one (1) copy to the Secretary of State and deliver one (1) copy to the agent of the petitioners, with a certificate on the transcript that a similar transcript has been forwarded to the Secretary of State. (D)(i) The incorporation shall be effective on the date the order of the county judge is filed and recorded. (ii) The election of municipal officers shall be effective upon that date. (2) If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the issue at the election vote against the issue of incorporation, the incorporation petition is null and void. (i)(1) If an order of the county judge provides for an election on the issue of incorporation, then the election of officers for the proposed city or town is to take place at the same time as the election on the issue of incorporation at the next general election. (2) The county clerk shall notify the county election commission at least sixty (60) days before the election that the election of city or town officers shall also appear on the election ballot along with the issue of incorporation of the proposed city or incorporated town. (3)(A) The county election commission is responsible for holding the first election of officers for the proposed city or town. (B) The type of officers to be elected and qualified and the election itself shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by law in like cases for a city or town of like size or class. (4) If the election is held at any other time than that prescribed by law for the regular election of the officers of the city or town of like size or class, the officers elected shall continue in office as long as and in the same manner as if they had been elected at the preceding period of the regular election of officers of the city or town of same size or class.