Ark. Code Ann. § 14-22-106 (2026)

The following listed commodities may be purchased without soliciting bids:

1. Perishable foodstuffs for immediate use;
2. Unprocessed feed for livestock and poultry;
3. Advanced emergency medical services provided by a nonprofit corporation and proprietary medicines when specifically requested by a professional employee;
4. Books, manuals, periodicals, films, and copyrighted educational aids for use in libraries and other informational material for institutional purposes;
5. Scientific equipment and parts therefor;
6. Replacement parts and labor for repairs of machinery and equipment;
7. Commodities available only from the United States Government;
8. 1. Any commodities needed in instances in which an unforeseen and unavoidable emergency has arisen in which human life, health, or public property is in jeopardy.
   2. An emergency purchase under subdivision (8)(A) of this section shall not be approved unless a statement in writing is attached to the purchase order describing the emergency necessitating the purchase of the commodity without competitive bidding;
9. Utility services, the rates for which are subject to regulation by a state agency or a federal regulatory agency;
10. Sand, gravel, soil, lumber, used pipe, or used steel;
11. Used or secondhand motor vehicles, machinery, or equipment, except a used or secondhand motor vehicle that has been under lease to a county when the vehicle has fewer than five thousand (5,000) miles of use shall not be purchased by the county when it has been used five thousand (5,000) miles or more except upon competitive bids as provided in this chapter;
12. Machinery, equipment, facilities, or other personal property purchased or acquired for or in connection with the securing and developing of industry under the Municipalities and Counties Industrial Development Revenue Bond Law, § 14-164-201 et seq., or any other provision of law pertaining to the securing and developing of industry;
13. Registered livestock to be used for breeding purposes;
14. Motor fuels, oil, asphalt, asphalt oil, and natural gas;
15. Motor vehicles, equipment, machinery, material, or supplies offered for sale at public auction or through a process requiring sealed bids;
16. All goods and services that are regularly provided to state agencies and county government by the Division of Correction's various penal industries;
17. 1. New motor vehicles purchased from a licensed automobile dealership located in Arkansas for an amount not to exceed the fleet price awarded by the Office of State Procurement and in effect at the time the county submits the purchase order for the same make and model motor vehicle.
    2. The purchase amount for a new motor vehicle may include additional options up to six hundred dollars ($600) over the fleet price awarded;
18. Renewal or an extension of the term of an existing contract;
19. Purchase of insurance for county employees, including without limitation health insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, life insurance, risk management services, or dental insurance;
20. Purchases made through programs of the National Association of Counties or the Association of Arkansas Counties;
21. Goods or services if the quorum court has approved by resolution the purchase of goods or services through competitive bidding or procurement procedures used by:
    1. The United States Government or one (1) of its agencies;
    2. Another state; or
    3. An association of governments or governmental agencies including associations of governments or governmental agencies below the state level; and
22. 1. Goods or services available only from a single source.
    2. A purchase under this subdivision (22) shall be supported with:
       1. Documentation concerning the exclusivity of the single source; and
       2. A county court order filed with the county clerk that sets forth the basis for the single source procurement.

History. Acts 1965 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 52, § 6; 1975, No. 439, §§ 5, 6; 1975, No. 617, §§ 5, 6; 1981, No. 306, § 1; 1985, No. 844, §§ 2, 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 17-1606; Acts 1989, No. 879, § 1; 1991, No. 786, § 12; 1993, No. 237, § 1; 2001, No. 219, § 2; 2007, No. 13, § 1; 2009, No. 410, §§ 9, 10; 2009, No. 756, § 22; 2011, No. 1044, § 1; 2013, No. 465, § 1; 2015, No. 561, § 2; 2019, No. 910, § 846.

A.C.R.C. Notes. Ark. Const., Amend. 62, § 11, provides that all provisions of the Arkansas Constitution, or amendments thereto, in conflict with Ark. Const., Amend. 62, including Ark. Const., Amends. 17 and 49, are repealed.

Acts 1991, No. 786, § 37, provided:

“The enactment and adoption of this Act shall not repeal, expressly or impliedly, the acts passed at the regular session of the 78th General Assembly. All such acts shall have full effect and, so far as those acts intentionally vary from or conflict with any provision contained in this Act, those acts shall have the effect of subsequent acts and as amending or repealing the appropriate parts of the Arkansas Code of 1987.”

Amendments. The 2009 amendment by No. 410 inserted “oil, asphalt, asphalt oil, and natural gas” in (14) and made a related change; and added (17) through (20).

The 2009 amendment by No. 756 subdivided (8) and inserted “under subdivision (8)(A) of this section” in (8)(B); deleted “or pursuant to the provisions of Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 49 [repealed]” following “under” in (12); inserted “oil, asphalt, asphalt oil, and natural gas” in (14); added (17) and (18); and made related and minor stylistic changes.

The 2011 amendment added (21).

The 2013 amendment added (22).

The 2015 amendment, in (11), deleted “that” following “except” and substituted “five thousand (5,000)” for “ten thousand (10,000)” twice.

The 2019 amendment substituted “Division of Correction’s” for “Department of Correction’s” in (16).