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Question 1: Under Act 186 of 1957, Act 56 of 1987, and Arkansas Code § 14-56-413, what was required of a city to establish and exercise planning and/or zoning outside the city limits and within the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)? Did the law require a city to adopt an ordinance to exercise the authority to establish planning and/or zoning outside the city limits? Did such ordinances have the force and effect of law?

Brief Response: Before Act 314 of 2025, a municipality was generally required to adopt a plan, ordinance, or regulation to exercise planning or zoning authority outside its corporate limits within its ETJ. When adopted in accordance with Act 186 of 1957, Act 56 of 1987, and A.C.A. § 14-56-413, and when properly filed or recorded as required by law, such plans, ordinances, and regulations carried the force of law within the designated ETJ.

Question 2: If adoption of a planning and/or zoning ordinance was required to establish and exercise planning and/or zoning authority within the ETJ, do cities that refrained and failed to enact such ordinances prior to the effective date of Act 314, have any ability to establish planning or zoning outside their city limits? To exercise authority within the ETJ? Was the effect of Act 314 of 2025 to deny cities that have not previously enacted planning and zoning ordinances outside the city limits and within the ETJ to foreclose them from adopting ordinances seeking to establish or exercise planning or zoning outside the city limits (following the effective date of Act 314)? May the cities of Traskwood, Haskell, Pine Bluff (or cities which have not adopted ordinances on planning or zoning outside the city limits) now adopt ordinances seeking to establish planning or zoning outside the city limits?

Brief Response: Act 314 of 2025 repealed municipalities’ statutory authority to exercise planning or zoning powers outside their corporate limits. Cities that did not adopt ETJ ordinances before Act 314 took effect now lack authority to do so, and cities that previously enacted ETJ ordinances may no longer enforce them beyond their corporate limits. County authorities now have exclusive jurisdiction over unincorporated areas.

Question 3: Does Act 314 operate retroactively and to repeal or void city ordinances lawfully adopted establishing and exercising planning and/or zoning outside the city limits and within some or all of the ETJ? What provision of Act 314 of 2025, if any, purports to repeal the valid ordinances of cities lawfully adopted between 1957 and 2025 establishing planning and/or zoning within the ETJ as provided by and in accordance with Act 186 of 1957, Act 56 of 1987, and Arkansas Code § 14-56-413? What provision of Act 314, if any, purports to act retroactively or ex post facto?

Question 4: Does Act 314 operate retroactively and repeal or render void:

a. Bryant Ordinance No. 99-16, (Exhibit 1, including the map attached thereto);

b. Benton Ordinance No. 2013-60, (Exhibit 2, including the map attached thereto);

c. Other ordinances that cities have adopted in accordance with Act 186 of 1957, Act 56 of 1987, and Arkansas Code § 14-56-413 establishing planning and/or zoning outside their city limits and expanding their authority within the ETJ?

Question 5: Under Arkansas law, ordinances lawfully adopted by cities or counties are presumed valid and considered law, unless and until declared invalid by a court of proper jurisdiction. Are the ordinances referenced in this opinion request and described below presumed to be valid unless and until declared void by a court of competent jurisdiction:

a. Bryant Ordinance No. 99-16, (Exhibit 1, including the map attached thereto);

2. Benton Ordinance No. 2013-60, (Exhibit 2, including the map attached thereto);

c.  Other ordinances that cities have adopted in accordance with Act 186 of 1957, Act 56 of 1987, and Arkansas Code § 14-56-413 establishing planning and/or zoning outside their city limits and expanding their authority within the ETJ?

Question 6: Does the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas have the legal authority or power to retroactively declare city or county ordinances previously and lawfully adopted to be invalid? Does the General Assembly have the authority and power to retroactively declare the ordinances referenced in Question 5 to be invalid?

Brief Response: In response to Questions 3, 4, 5, and 6, Act 314 of 2025 renders previously enacted municipal ETJ ordinances unenforceable on and after the Act’s effective date. Because ETJ authority was purely statutory and municipalities possess only those powers granted by the General Assembly, such ordinances may no longer be enforced outside of municipal corporate limits.

Question 7: If previously adopted city ETJ ordinances remain valid following Act 314, may a joint planning commission commence or continue to enforce those city ordinances?

Brief Response: No. A joint planning commission may exercise only those powers that its member municipalities or counties are authorized to exercise under existing law. Because Act 314 of 2025 eliminated municipal authority to enforce ETJ ordinances in unincorporated areas, a joint planning commission likewise lacks authority to commence or continue enforcement of such ordinances. Any remaining planning activities concerning areas outside municipal corporate limits are advisory in nature and do not provide a lawful basis for enforcement.