Ark. Code Ann. § 14-43-504 (2026)
Powers and duties of mayor generally
- The mayor of the city shall be its chief executive officer and conservator of its peace. It shall be his or her special duty to cause the ordinances and regulations of the city to be faithfully and constantly obeyed.
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The mayor shall:
- Supervise the conduct of all the officers of the city, examine the grounds of all reasonable complaints made against them, and cause all their violations of duty or other neglect to be properly punished or reported to the proper tribunal for correction;
- Have and exercise the power conferred on sheriffs, within the city limits, to suppress disorder and keep the peace; and
- Perform such other duties compatible with the nature of his or her office as the city council may from time to time require.
- The mayor shall report, within the first ninety (90) days of each year and at such other times as he or she shall deem expedient, to the council the municipal affairs of the city and recommend such measures as may seem advisable.
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In addition to the powers and duties already pertaining to that office, the mayor of any city of the first class shall be clothed with and exercise and perform the following:
- A mayor may veto within five (5) days, Sundays excepted, after the action of the city council thereon, any ordinance, resolution, or order adopted or made by the council, or any part thereof, which in his or her judgment is contrary to the public interest; and
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- In case of a veto, before the next regular meeting of the council, the mayor shall file in the office of the city clerk, to be laid before that meeting, a written statement of his or her reasons for so doing.
- An ordinance, an order, or a resolution or part thereof, vetoed by the mayor is invalid unless, after the written statement is laid before it, the council, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all the council members elected thereto, passes it over the veto.
- The mayor does not have the power of veto in circumstances prescribed under § 14-43-501(a) or § 14-43-411(a).
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In addition to the powers and duties already pertaining to that office, the mayor of any city of the first class shall be clothed with and exercise and perform the following:
History. Acts 1875, No. 1, § 53, p. 1; 1885, No. 67, § 2, p. 92; 1893, No. 42, §§ 1, 2, p. 64; 1913, No. 226, § 1; C. & M. Dig., §§ 7697-7701; Pope's Dig., §§ 9840-9844; Acts 1979, No. 153, §§ 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 19-1013, 19-1014; Acts 1991, No. 786, § 14; 1995, No. 534, § 2; 1995, No. 914, § 2; 2009, No. 161, § 1; 2009, No. 185, § 4; 2017, No. 879, § 24.
Publisher's Notes. 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. 161 substituted “within the first ninety (90) days of each year” for “at the second regular meeting of the council in each year” in (d).
The 2009 amendment by No. 185 added (e)(3) and made minor stylistic changes.
The 2017 amendment substituted “council members” for “aldermen” in (d)(1)(B)(ii).
Case Notes
Construction.
Prior to the enactment of § 14-42-110 in 1995, subdivision (e)(2) of this section and former § 14-43-505 created a property interest for a police chief in the position. Sykes v. City of Gentry, 114 F.3d 829 (8th Cir. 1997).
Annexation.
Mayor was authorized to sign an annexation petition on behalf of the city, where the city owned land whose annexation was proposed, as an exercise of his authority as chief executive officer of the city. City of Marion v. Guaranty Loan & Real Estate Co., 75 Ark. App. 427, 58 S.W.3d 410 (2001).
Chiefs of Police.
A chief of police in a city of first class, appointed under an ordinance fixing his term at one year, who surrendered office at the end of the year without protest, was estopped to claim that his term was two years under this section, and therefore he could not recover salary for the second year. City of West Helena v. Patrick, 185 Ark. 71, 46 S.W.2d 36 (1932).
The mayor of a city had the power to appoint the chief of police prior to 1933, when this power was limited only to cities not operating under the municipal Civil Service Act. Connor v. Ricks, 212 Ark. 833, 208 S.W.2d 10 (1948).
Subdivision (e)(2) of this section creates a property interest in the chief of police position for any city of the first class by providing for a term of employment, from the date of appointment to the following mayoral election, and by providing for removal only for cause. Pearson v. City of Paris, 839 F. Supp. 645 (W.D. Ark. 1993).
Although police chief was hired before 1995, his property interest in his position was eliminated in 1995 when the General Assembly enacted § 14-42-110. Sykes v. City of Gentry, 114 F.3d 829 (8th Cir. 1997).
Ordinances, Resolutions, or Orders.
The mayor is required to sign or approve an ordinance in order that it may become effective. Lewis v. Forrest City Special Imp. Dist., 156 Ark. 356, 246 S.W. 867 (1923).
Mayor is entitled to veto resolution of city council selecting member to board of public welfare. Steward v. Rust, 221 Ark. 286, 252 S.W.2d 816 (1952).
Salaries.
Ordinances raising salaries of city officials during their terms of office by allowing each of them an expense account was held contrary to this section, and at most could be treated as an increase to take effect at the expiration of their terms of office. Laman v. Moore, 193 Ark. 446, 100 S.W.2d 971 (1937).