Counties

Counties are administrative and political sub-units of a state. Some states, particularly Alaska and Louisiana, use the terms “borough” and “parish,” respectively, to designate the same type of entity. The county government is based within a community designated the county seat and typically consists of a county judge (who serves as the chief executive officer), county clerk, circuit clerk, assessor, sheriff, coroner, and the legislative body known as the quorum court; some counties have or had other positions such as county superintendent, surveyor, or collector. Some counties possess dual county seats due to local geographical conditions making travel to a single county seat difficult at certain times of the year, as with some counties that are divided by a river.

When Arkansas became a territory of the United States, it was home to five counties: Arkansas, Lawrence, Pulaski, Clark, and Hempstead. As the state’s population grew, these counties were divided into smaller and smaller units over the coming decades before eventually arriving at the seventy-five counties that make up the state of Arkansas in the twenty-first century. Article 13 of the 1874 Arkansas Constitution, which remains in force, relates to the creation of new counties. Namely, the constitution specifies that no county then established “shall be reduced to an area of less than six hundred square miles, nor to less than five thousand inhabitants,” and neither “shall any new county be established with less than six hundred square miles and five thousand inhabitants.” In addition, the removal of part of one county for inclusion in another requires “the consent of a majority of the voters in such part proposed to be taken off.” Likewise, the establishment or change of a county seat also requires a majority vote.

A single county, Lovely County, existed for only one year as a part of Arkansas Territory before being abolished as part of an 1828 federal treaty with the Cherokee Nation. Another county, Sarber County, was renamed Logan County. Every county is a member of the Association of Arkansas Counties.

For additional information:
Arkansas Counties. https://www.arcounties.org/counties/ (accessed December 17, 2021).

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas