Ark. Code Ann. § 25-15-202 (2026)
Definitions
As used in this subchapter:
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- “Adjudication” means an agency process for the formulation of an order.
- “Adjudication” does not include inmate disciplinary proceedings conducted by the Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction;
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- “Agency” means a board, commission, department, officer, or other authority of the government of the State of Arkansas, whether within, or subject to review by, another agency, except the General Assembly, the courts, and the Governor.
- The word “agency” shall include the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education and the Child Care Appeal Review Panel for purposes of administrative appeal.
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- Except as provided in subdivision (2)(C)(ii) of this section, the word “agency” shall not include the Arkansas Public Service Commission, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, the Workers' Compensation Commission, and the Division of Workforce Services, as the existing laws governing those agencies provide adequate administrative procedures for those agencies.
- The word “agency” as used in §§ 25-15-216 and 25-15-218 shall include the Arkansas Public Service Commission, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, the Workers' Compensation Commission, and the Division of Workforce Services.
- This subchapter does not repeal delegations of authority as provided by law;
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“Financial impact statement” means a realistic statement of a new or increased cost or obligation of complying with a proposed rule to a:
- Private individual, entity, and business; and
- State, county, and municipal government;
- “License” includes an agency permit, certificate, approval, registration, charter, or similar form of permission required by law;
- “Licensing” means an agency process respecting the grant, denial, renewal, revocation, suspension, annulment, withdrawal, limitation, or amendment of a license;
- “Order” means the final disposition of an agency in any matter other than rulemaking, including licensing and rate making, in which the agency is required by law to make its determination after notice and hearing;
- “Party” means a person or agency named or admitted as a party, or properly seeking and entitled as of right to be admitted as a party, in an agency proceeding;
- “Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or public or private organization of any character;
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- “Rule” means an agency statement of general applicability and future effect that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy, or describes the organization, procedure, or practice of an agency and includes, but is not limited to, the amendment or repeal of a prior rule.
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“Rule” does not mean:
- A statement that concerns the internal management of a state agency and that does not affect the private rights or procedures available to the public;
- A declaratory order or ruling issued under § 25-15-206 or other provision of law applicable to the state agency issuing the declaratory order or ruling;
- Intra-agency memoranda; or
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A medical code within the Arkansas Medicaid Program that is issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including without limitation:
- Current Procedural Terminology codes;
- Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes;
- International Classification of Diseases codes;
- National Uniform Billing Committee Official UB-04 Specifications Manual codes; and
- National Correct Coding Initiative codes; and
- “Rulemaking” means an agency process for the formulation, amendment, or repeal of a rule.
History. Acts 1967, No. 434, § 1; 1971, No. 316, § 1; 1977, No. 349, § 1; 1979, No. 324, § 15; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 5-701, 5-701.1; Acts 1997, No. 1149, § 1; 1999, No. 1222, § 17; 2001, No. 1648, § 1; 2003, No. 350, § 1; 2013, No. 759, § 3; 2017, No. 605, § 2; 2019, No. 517, § 1; 2019, No. 662, § 4; 2019, No. 910, §§ 620, 621.
Amendments. The 2013 amendment inserted (3), redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly, and made stylistic changes to the section.
The 2017 amendment, in (9)(B)(i), substituted “A statement that concerns” for “Statements concerning”, “a state agency” for “an agency” and “does not” for “do not”; in (9)(B)(ii), substituted “A declaratory order or ruling issued under” for “Declaratory rulings issued pursuant to” and added “or other provision of law applicable to the state agency issuing the declaratory order or ruling”; added (9)(B)(iv); and made stylistic changes.
The 2019 amendment by No. 517 redesignated former (2)(C) as (2)(C)(i); added “Except as provided in subdivision (2)(C)(ii) of this section”, in (2)(C)(i); and added (2)(C)(ii).
The 2019 amendment by No. 662 redesignated (2)(C) as (2)(C)(i); added “Except as provided in subdivision (2)(C)(ii) of this section” in (2)(C)(i); and added (2)(C)(ii).
The 2019 amendment by No. 910, in (1)(B), substituted “Division of Correction” for “Department of Correction” and “Division of Community Correction” for “Department of Community Correction”; and substituted “Division of Workforce Services” for “Department of Workforce Services” in (2)(C).
Research References
Ark. L. Notes.
Looney, Handling Administrative Proceedings Before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Department and Commission, 1988 Ark. L. Notes 23.
U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.
Survey of Legislation, 2003 Arkansas General Assembly, State Government, Administrative Procedures Act, 26 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 493.
Annual Survey of Caselaw, Administrative Law, 26 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 791.
Case Notes
Adjudication.
State employee's appeal from her termination by a state school for the deaf could not be heard due to lack of jurisdiction because there was no judicial review of such termination decisions absent a public policy exception; such decisions were legislative rather than adjudicatory. The school's alleged violation of its non-mandatory reduction policy did not rise to the level of a public policy violation. Tripcony v. Ark. Sch. for the Deaf, 2012 Ark. 188, 403 S.W.3d 559 (2012).
Inmate's petition failed to sustain a claim under § 25-15-212 to support a judicial review of the Arkansas Department of Corrections' decision because it did not set forth facts to show deprivation of a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause; the inmate alleged only a breach of contractual terms and that the DOC rules interfered with his right to correspond or otherwise communicate with persons not in prison. Renfro v. Smith, 2013 Ark. 40 (2013).
Circuit court had no subject-matter jurisdiction to review the licensing decision of the Medical Marijuana Commission (MMC) concerning cultivation facilities because (1) under § 25-15-212, no “adjudication” as defined by statute occurred at the agency level and the MMC's decision was not quasi-judicial, and (2) under § 25-15-207, the court only had jurisdiction to resolve a rule's validity or applicability, but the invalidity of a MMC rule was not pled, the “applicability” of a rule was not contested, and no declaration of whether a rule should have been applied was sought; instead, the complaints sought a declaration that the “application” of the MMC rules was improper, unfair, and arbitrary. Ark. Dep't of Fin. & Admin. v. Naturalis Health, LLC, 2018 Ark. 224, 549 S.W.3d 901 (2018).
Agency.
Since local school districts are political subdivisions of the state and not state agencies within the meaning of the act, this subchapter does not apply to local school districts. Corbin v. Special Sch. Dist., 250 Ark. 357, 465 S.W.2d 342 (1971).
The Employment Security Division of the Arkansas Department of Labor is specifically exempted but neither the Department of Labor nor the Commissioner (now Director) of Labor are exempt from provisions of this subchapter relating to the procedure for the adoption of rules. Arkansas Dep't of Labor v. American Emp. Agency, 257 Ark. 509, 517 S.W.2d 949 (1975).
The Alcoholic Beverage Commission is not an agency excepted from this subchapter and is therefore subject to its provisions. Byrd v. Jones, 263 Ark. 406, 565 S.W.2d 131 (1978).
The Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to the Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct; courts are specifically excluded from the definition of “agency,” and the Committee on Professional Conduct is an arm of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Comm. on Professional Conduct v. Muhammed, 291 Ark. 225, 723 S.W.2d 828 (1987).
Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is an agency under § 25-15-202(2)(A); therefore, a decision from the DHHS to leave a person's name on the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry was reviewed under the standards in § 25-15-212(h)(1), (4). Vancleave v. Ark. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 98 Ark. App. 299, 254 S.W.3d 770 (2007).
Delegation of Authority.
Words “delegation of authority” do not refer to jurisdiction placed in a court. Ark. Sav. & Loan Ass'n Bd. v. Corning Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 252 Ark. 264, 478 S.W.2d 431 (1972).
Rule.
Site selection for the construction of an adult detention facility does not fall anywhere within the definition of the term “rule” as contained in this section, as it does not constitute an agency statement of general applicability. Eldridge v. Board of Corr., 298 Ark. 467, 768 S.W.2d 534 (1989).
Recommendations by a state board as to the adoption of a mail order service and change in the reimbursement rates of a pharmacy service plan for state and public school employees did not constitute “rule-making” within the meaning of subsections (8) and (9) of this section, and accordingly, the notice and hearing provisions therein did not have to be complied with; such recommendations were within the board's legislatively mandated duties pursuant to § 21-5-401. Arkansas Pharmacist's Ass'n v. Arkansas State & Pub. Sch. Life and Hlth. Ins. Bd., 352 Ark. 1, 98 S.W.3d 27 (2003).
Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act (APA) did not apply to statewide ban on solicitation activity at State revenue offices, as the policy did not meet the APA's definition of a “rule” because it simply prohibited those who did not have business with the State from soliciting on revenue office property. Brown v. Ark. Dep't of Fin. & Admin., 180 F. Supp. 3d 602 (W.D. Ark. 2016), aff'd, 674 Fed. Appx. 599 (8th Cir. 2017).
Cited: Fireman's Ins. Co. v. Ark. State Claims Comm'n, 301 Ark. 451, 784 S.W.2d 771; National Park Medical Ctr. v. Arkansas Dep't of Human Servs., 322 Ark. 595, 911 S.W.2d 250 (1995); Beavers v. Ark. State Bd. of Dental Exam'rs, 151 F.3d 838 (8th Cir. 1998); Ark. Dep't of Econ. Dev. v. William J. Clinton Presidential Found., 364 Ark. 40, 216 S.W.3d 119 (2005); Munson v. Ark. Dep't of Corr. Sex Offender Screening, 369 Ark. 290, 253 S.W.3d 901 (2007); Walker v. Ark. State Bd. of Educ., 2010 Ark. 277, 365 S.W.3d 899 (2010).