Ark. Code Ann. § 27-65-107 (2020)
Powers and duties generally — Definitions
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The State Highway Commission shall be vested with the following powers and shall have the following duties:
- To divide the state highway system into such maintenance and construction districts as the commission deems reasonable and proper for the performance of its duties hereunder;
- To let all contracts for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of the roads comprising the state highway system upon such terms and upon such conditions as required by law;
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To comply fully with the provisions of the present or future federal aid acts. The commission may:
- Enter into all contracts or agreements with the United States Government relating to the survey, construction, improvement, and maintenance of roads under the provisions of any present or future congressional enactment;
- Submit any scheme or program for construction or maintenance as may be required by the Federal Highway Administration, or otherwise provided by federal acts; and
- Do all other things necessary and proper to carry out fully the cooperation contemplated and provided for by present or future acts of the United States Congress for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of roads in rural or urban areas;
- To establish a program of current and long-range planning for the state highway system and to develop and coordinate a balanced statewide unified transportation plan for all modes;
- To establish highway policies and administrative practices for the guidance and direction of the Director of State Highways and Transportation;
- To prepare the budget request, expenditures programs, and periodical allotments;
- To investigate highway conditions and official conduct of Arkansas Department of Transportation personnel;
- To gather and tabulate information and statistics on road building, maintenance, and improvements and to disseminate them through the state through appropriate channels;
- To employ labor and lease equipment;
- To establish a merit system under the merit council and a job classification system and a salary scale in the department;
- To make purchases of materials, supplies, and equipment as provided by law;
- To sell all obsolete equipment, surplus supplies, and material that cannot be used by the department, and the commission is authorized to furnish evidence of title to the purchaser. Sales shall be made according to law;
- To adopt rules to implement the commission’s powers;
- To adopt reasonable rules from time to time for the protection of, and covering, traffic on and in the use of the state highway system and in controlling use of, and access to, the highways, except that no provision contained herein shall be construed as repealing the existing “rules of the road”;
- To bring suits to enforce demands of the state under this chapter and cause all suits to enforce any contracts or demands arising under the provisions of this chapter to be brought by the Attorney General in the name of the state;
- To restrict certain trucks when traveling on freeways with six (6) or more lanes from traveling in the furthermost left lane of the highways and to post signs compliant with the manual and specifications adopted pursuant to § 27-52-104 to notify motorists of the restrictions under this subdivision (a)(16);
- To establish by properly promulgated and adopted rules reasonable fees that are necessary to carry out the powers and duties of the commission for applications, permits, licenses, and other administrative purposes including but not limited to driveways, logos, billboards, signage, sign visibility, and weight restricted roadway maintenance to support the administration and operation of programs for which the fees are assessed;
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To propose and submit rules regarding the:
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Criteria for distribution of funds and the distribution of funds from the:
- State Highway and Transportation Department Fund; and
- Road and Bridge Repair, Maintenance, and Grants Fund; and
- Spending priority designated for highway construction contracts and public road construction projects by the department and the commission, including the criteria used to establish the spending priority.
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Criteria for distribution of funds and the distribution of funds from the:
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- The commission shall submit the proposed rules required under subdivision (a)(18)(A) of this section to the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council for review.
- Proposed rules required under subdivision (a)(18)(A) of this section that are under consideration at the time the act passes do not require review by the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council prior to implementation but shall be submitted to the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council by October 1, 2017, as a report.
- The proposed rules required under subdivision (a)(18)(A) of this section are not required to be promulgated under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., but shall be published after review by the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council; and
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To propose and submit rules regarding the:
- To provide the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council with a report on the progress of each public road construction project of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) or more at least quarterly or as required by the Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council.
- The rules, together with any additions or amendments thereto, prescribed by the commission under the provisions of this chapter shall have the force and effect of law. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any rule or any addition or amendment thereto shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense.
- Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the commission shall have the authority to enter into contracts that combine the design, construction, and construction engineering phases of a project into a single contract that shall be referred to as a “design-build project contract”.
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As used in this section:
- “Highway construction contract” means a contract for the construction, restoration, reconstruction, renovation, or repair of a road, highway, bridge, overpass, interchange, right-of-way, or turnpike that is part of the state highway system; and
- “Public road construction project” means the construction, restoration, reconstruction, renovation, or repair of a road, highway, street, bridge, overpass, interchange, or right-of-way in which the construction, restoration, reconstruction, renovation, or repair is to be performed or is initiated by the department or the commission.
History. Acts 1929, No. 65, § 53; Pope's Dig., § 6903; Acts 1953, No. 123, § 5; 1977, No. 192, § 6; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 76-201.5, 76-217; Acts 2003, No. 460, § 1; 2007, No. 1054, § 1; 2013, No. 1362, § 4; 2015, No. 707, § 1; 2016 (3rd Ex. Sess.), No. 1, §§ 19, 20; 2017, No. 707, § 363; 2019, No. 315, §§ 3160, 3161.
A.C.R.C. Notes. Acts 2013, No. 1362, § 1, provided:
“(a) The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department regularly assesses fees for the issuance of permits, licenses, and for other administrative purposes as part of implementation and administration of statutory duties.
“(b) The purpose of this legislation is to ensure department compliance, to the extent necessary, with the requirements of Act 1159 of 2011 concerning the continuation of issuance of permits, licenses, and for other administrative purposes as part of implementation and administration of statutory duties.”
Acts 2016 (3rd Ex. Sess.), No. 1, § 1, provided: “This act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Arkansas Highway Improvement Plan of 2016’.”
Amendments. The 2013 amendment added (a)(17).
The 2015 amendment redesignated former (b)(1) as (b), and deleted former (b)(2).
The 2016 (3rd Ex. Sess.) amendment added (a)(18), (a)(19), and (d).
The 2017 amendment substituted “Department of Transportation” for “State Highway and Transportation Department” in (a)(7).
The 2019 amendment deleted “and regulations” following “rules” in (a)(13), (a)(14), and in the first sentence of (b); and deleted “or regulation” following “rule” in the second sentence of (b).
Case Notes
Commissioners.
The members of the Highway Commission, although not judges, perform a quasi-judicial function and therefore, by analogy, should be subject to the appearance of bias standard for judges. Acme Brick Co. v. Missouri Pac. R.R., 307 Ark. 363, 821 S.W.2d 7 (1991).
Contracts.
The authority of State Highway Commission to let contracts for the construction and maintenance of highways is statutory, and any contract not let in the prescribed manner is unauthorized and voidable at the state's election. Leonard v. State ex rel. Attorney Gen., 185 Ark. 998, 50 S.W.2d 598 (1932).
Citizens' complaint against the Arkansas Department of Transportation did not state a cause of action for an illegal exaction under Ark. Const., Art. 16, § 13, where they did not allege that the department lacked the authority to enter into the agreement with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) or failed to follow any applicable statute, rule, or regulation with regard to the agreement, and the complaint did not allege any wrongdoing on the part of the State at all. The allegation that the USFWS took advantage of the department's highway-expansion project to force unreasonable terms on the state and the complaint's attempts to assert various contract defenses on the state's behalf were not sufficient to establish a claim for an illegal exaction. Prince v. Ark. State Hwy. Comm'n, 2019 Ark. 199, 576 S.W.3d 1 (2019).
Employees.
The State Highway Commission has implied authority to employ attorneys if their services are reasonably necessary to the primary object of constructing or maintaining roads. Parker v. Pace & Davis, 190 Ark. 950, 82 S.W.2d 259 (1935).
Portion of State Highway Commission's employee grievance procedure which required an employee to submit his written complaint directly to the designated employer representative held not to violate U.S. Const. Amend. 1. Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees, 441 U.S. 463, 99 S. Ct. 1826, 60 L. Ed. 2d 360, 1979 U.S. LEXIS 95 (1979).
Ferries.
The State Highway Commission has authority to operate ferries on state highways. Arkansas State Hwy. Comm'n v. Butler, 105 F.2d 732 (8th Cir. 1939).
Orders.
Order setting out requirements for construction of access driveways was not discriminatory under Ark. Const., Art. 2, § 3. Ark. State Hwy. Comm'n v. Hightower, 238 Ark. 569, 383 S.W.2d 279 (1964).
Where persons were granted permit to construct an access driveway to state highway, they were estopped from questioning validity of order requiring permit, for they had accepted the benefits of such order and therefore could not question its validity. Ark. State Hwy. Comm'n v. Hightower, 238 Ark. 569, 383 S.W.2d 279 (1964).
Parking Regulations.
State Highway Commission has authority to prohibit parking on state highway truck routes within city. Arkansas State Hwy. Comm'n v. City of Little Rock, 227 Ark. 660, 300 S.W.2d 929 (1957).
Pedestrians.
Former similar statute did not authorize the State Highway Commission to adopt a rule as to the side of the highway on which pedestrians should travel. Snow v. Riggs, 172 Ark. 835, 290 S.W. 591 (1927) (decision under prior law).
Suits Against Commission.
The State Highway Commission was held to be an agency of the state and could not be sued by contractors to recover a balance claimed to be due under a contract for construction work. Ark. State Hwy. Comm'n v. Nelson Bros., 191 Ark. 629, 87 S.W.2d 394 (1935) (decision under prior law).
Cited: Ottinger v. Blackwell, 173 F. Supp. 817 (E.D. Ark. 1959); Robinson v. Arkansas State Hwy. & Transp. Comm'n, 532 F. Supp. 764 (E.D. Ark. 1982); Medlock v. Arkansas State Hwy. Comm'n, 6 Ark. App. 361, 642 S.W.2d 336 (1982); Skeets v. Johnson, 805 F.2d 767 (8th Cir. 1986).