Ark. Code Ann. § 16-17-1107 (2026)
Salary of judges serving city or county
This subchapter shall not in any way limit the power and authority of local district courts currently existing. Except for the state district court judgeships created under this subchapter, a judge serving in another full-time or part-time local district court position shall continue to be an employee of the cities or counties, or both, that he or she serves and shall be paid according to state law.
History. Acts 2007, No. 663, § 2; 2011, No. 1219, § 6.
Amendments. The 2011 amendment substituted “local district courts” for “other district courts” and substituted “part-time local district court position” for “part-time district court position.”
Effective Dates. Acts 2007, No. 663, § 56, as amended by Acts 2009, No. 345, § 7, provided:
“(a) Sections 2 through 15 of this act are effective January 1, 2008.
“(b) Sections 16 through 50 and 52 through 55 of this act are effective January 1, 2012.
“(c) Section 51 of Act 663 of 2007 is effective January 1, 2012, except:
“(1) That portion of Section 51 of Act 663 of 2007 that is referred to in Act 663 of 2007 as 16-17-933, establishing the Cleburne County District Court and departments of that court, codified as § 16-17-936 is effective July 1, 2009; and
“(2) That portion of Section 51 of Act 663 of 2007 that is referred to in Act 663 of 2007 as 16-17-950, establishing the St. Francis County District Court and departments of that court, codified as § 16-17-954 is effective July 1, 2009.”
Case Notes
District Court Clerk.
Federal district court erred in dismissing plaintiff's § 1983 action alleging that defendant city violated her constitutional rights by failing to document that she paid certain fines and requesting issuance of a warrant for her arrest, as the complaint stated at least a plausible claim that the Phillips County district court clerk was a city official at the time of the alleged wrongdoing, rather than a state official, in which case the city could be accountable for actions of the clerk that established or carried out an unconstitutional policy or custom of the municipality. Evans v. City of Helena-West Helena, 912 F.3d 1145 (8th Cir. 2019).
It was not until after the events alleged in the complaint that Phillips County was one of several counties that were reorganized as state district courts and served by a state district court judge. Before that time, state law gave cites and counties authority to set salaries for the district court clerk, and the complaint alleged that employees of the district court were hired by the city and paid by the city. Evans v. City of Helena-West Helena, 912 F.3d 1145 (8th Cir. 2019).
Reorganization.
Due process violation arising from a district court judge's installment fee policy could be imputed to the city because the judge was an employee of the city since the Little Rock District Court had not yet been reorganized as a state district court at the times relevant to the case; the Little Rock District Court was not part of the state district court program at the time of the events alleged in the complaint. City of Little Rock v. Nelson, 2020 Ark. 34 (2020).