Constitution of Arkansas (2025 publisher edition) — Article 8

Publisher edition notice: This collection preserves the complete constitutional appendix of the Secretary of State’s 2025 Election Laws and Constitution compilation: its preamble, twenty original articles, schedule and 104 published amendments, including annotations and explicit repealed notices. Repealed notices remain historical publisher context. Later amendments have not been independently verified.

Article 8

ARTICLE 8
APPORTIONMENT — MEMBERSHIP IN G ENERAL A SSEMBLY
SECTION .
1. Board of apportionment created — Powers and duties.
2. One hundred members in House of Representatives —
Apportionment.
3. Senatorial districts — Thirty-five members of Senate.
SECTION.
4. Duties of Board of Apportionment.
5. Mandamus to compel Board of Apportionment to act.
6. Election of Senators and Representatives.
Publisher’s Notes. Ark. Const. Amend. 23 rewrote this
article. Before its amendment, the article read:
“SECTION 1. The House of Representatives shall consist of
not less than seventy-three, nor more than one hundred
members.
Each County now organized shall always be entitled to
one Representative; the remainder to be apportioned
among the several Counties according to the number of
adult male inhabitants, taking two thousand as the ratio,
until the number of Representatives amounts to one hun-
dred, when they shall not be further increased, but the
ratio of representation shall, from time to time, be in-
creased as hereinafter provided; so that the Representa-
tives shall never exceed that number. And until the enu-
meration of the inhabitants is taken by the United States
government, A. D. 1880, the Representatives shall be
apportioned among the several counties, as follows:
“The county of Arkansas shall elect one Representative.
The county of Ashley shall elect one Representative. The
county of Benton shall elect two Representatives. The
county of Boone shall elect one Representative. The county
of Bradley shall elect one Representative. The county of
Baxter shall elect one Representative. The county of Cal-
houn shall elect one Representative. The county of Carroll
shall elect one Representative. The county of Chicot shall
elect one Representative. The county of Columbia shall
elect two Representatives. The county of Clark shall elect
two Representatives. The county of Conway shall elect one
Representative. The county of Craighead shall elect one
Representative. The county of Crawford shall elect one
Representative. The county of Cross shall elect one Repre-
sentative. The county of Crittenden shall elect one Repre-
sentative. The county of Clayton shall elect one Represen-
tative. The county of Dallas shall elect one Representative.
The county of Desha shall elect one Representative. The
county of Drew shall elect one Representative. The county
of Dorsey shall elect one Representative. The county of
Franklin shall elect one Representative. The county of
Fulton shall elect one Representative. The county of Faulk-
ner shall elect one Representative. The county of Grant
shall elect one Representative. The county of Greene shall
elect one Representative. The county of Garland shall elect
one Representative. The county of Hempstead shall elect
two Representatives. The county of Hot Spring shall elect
three Representatives. The county of Howard shall elect
one Representative. The county of Independence shall elect
two Representatives. The county of Izard shall elect one
Representative. The county of Jackson shall elect one
Representative. The county of Jefferson shall elect three
Representatives. The county of Johnson shall elect one
Representative. The county of Lafayette shall elect one
Representative. The county of Lawrence shall elect one
Representative. The county of Little River shall elect one
Representative. The county of Lonoke shall elect two
Representatives. The county of Lincoln shall elect one
Representative. The county of Lee shall elect two Repre-
sentatives. The county of Madison shall elect one Repre-
sentative. The county of Marion shall elect one Represen-
tative. The county of Monroe shall elect one
Representative. The county of Montgomery shall elect one
Representative. The county of Mississippi shall elect one
Representative. The county of Nevada shall elect one
Representative. The county of Newton shall elect one
Representative. The county of Ouachita shall elect two
Representatives. The county of Perry shall elect one Rep-
resentative. The county of Phillips shall elect three Repre-
sentatives. The county of Pike shall elect one Representa-
tive. The county of Polk shall elect one Representative. The
county of Pope shall elect one Representative. The county
of Poinsett shall elect one Representative. The county of
Pulaski shall elect four Representatives. The county of
Prairie shall elect one Representative. The county of Ran-
dolph shall elect one Representative. The county of Saline
shall elect one Representative. The county of Sarber shall
elect one Representative. The county of Scott shall elect
one Representative. The county of Searcy shall elect one
Representative. The county of Sebastian shall elect two
Representatives. The county of Sevier shall elect one
Representative. The county of Sharp shall elect one Rep-
resentative. The county of St. Francis shall elect one
Representative. The county of Stone shall elect one Repre-
sentative. The county of Union shall elect two Representa-
tives. The county of Van Buren shall elect one Represen-
tative. The county of Washington shall elect three
Representatives. The county of White shall elect two Rep-
resentatives. The county of Woodruff shall elect one Rep-
resentative. The county of Yell shall elect one Representa-
tive.
“SEC . 2. The Legislature shall, from time to time, divide
the State into convenient Senatorial districts, in such
manner that the Senate shall be based upon the adult male
inhabitants of the State; each Senator representating an
equal number as nearly as practicable, and until the
enumeration of the inhabitants is taken by the United
States government A. D. 1880, the districts shall be ar-
ranged as follows:
“The counties of Greene, Craighead and Clayton shall
compose the First district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Randolph, Lawrence and Sharp shall
compose the Second district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Carroll, Boone and Newton shall com-
pose the Third district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Johnson and Pope shall compose the
Fourth district, and elect one Senator.
“The county of Washington shall compose the Fifth
district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Independence and Stone shall compose
the Sixth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Woodruff, St. Francis, Cross and Crit-
tenden shall compose the Seventh district, and elect one
Senator.
“The counties of Yell and Sarber shall compose the
Eighth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Saline, Hot Spring and Grant shall
compose the Ninth district, and elect one Senator.
614 Art. 7, § 53 CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS

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“The counties of Pulaski and Perry shall compose the
Tenth district, and elect two Senators.
“The county of Jefferson shall compose the Eleventh
district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Lonoke and Prairie shall compose the
Twelfth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Arkansas and Monroe shall compose the
Thirteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Phillips and Lee shall compose the
Fourteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Desha and Chicot shall compose the
Fifteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Lincoln, Dorsey and Dallas shall com-
pose the Sixteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Drew and Ashley shall compose the
Seventeenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Bradley and Union shall compose the
Eighteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Calhoun and Ouachita shall compose
the Nineteenth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Hempstead and Nevada shall compose
the Twentieth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Columbia and Lafayette shall compose
the Twenty-first district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Little River, Sevier, Howard, and Polk
shall compose the Twenty-second district, and elect one
Senator.
“The counties of Fulton, Izard, Marion and Baxter shall
compose the Twenty-third district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Benton and Madison shall compose the
Twenty-fourth district and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Crawford and Franklin shall compose
the Twenty-fifth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Van Buren, Conway and Searcy shall
compose the Twenty-sixth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of White and Faulkner shall compose the
Twenty-seventh district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Sebastian and Scott shall compose the
Twenty-eighth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Poinsett, Jackson and Mississippi shall
compose the Twenty-ninth district, and elect one Senator.
“The counties of Clark, Pike and Montgomery shall
compose the Thirtieth district, and elect one Senator.
“And the Senate shall never consist of less than thirty,
nor more than thirty-five members.
“SEC . 3. Senatorial districts shall at all times consist of
contiguous territory, and no county shall be divided in the
formation of a senatorial district.
“SEC . 4. The division of the State into Senatorial dis-
tricts, and the apportionment of Representatives to the
several counties, shall be made by the General Assembly at
the first regular session after each enumeration of the
inhabitants of the State by the Federal or the State
government, shall have been ascertained, and at no other
time.”
Ark. Const. Amend. 45 amended the article as amended
by Ark. Const. Amend. 23. See Publisher’s Notes following
§§ 1-6 for details of amendments to each section.
§ 1. Board of apportionment created — Powers and duties.
A Board to be known as “The Board of Apportionment,” consisting of the Governor (who shall
be Chairman), the Secretary of State and the Attorney General is hereby created and it shall be
its imperative duty to make apportionment of representatives in accordance with the provisions
hereof; the action of a majority in each instance shall be deemed the action of said board. [As
amended by Const. Amend. 23; Const. Amend. 45.]
Publisher’s Notes. Before amendment by Ark. Const.
Amend. 45, this section read: “A board to be known as ‘The
Board of Apportionment,’ consisting of the Governor (who
shall be Chairman), the Secretary of State and the Attor-
ney General is hereby created and it shall be its imperative
duty to make apportionment of representatives and sena-
tors in accordance with the provisions hereof; the action of
a majority in each instance shall be deemed the action of
said Board. [As amended by Const. Amend. 23.]”
§ 2. One hundred members in House of Representatives — Apportionment.
The House of Representatives shall consist of one hundred members and each county existing
at the time of any apportionment shall have at least one representative; the remaining members
shall be equally distributed (as nearly as practicable) among the more populous counties of the
State, in accordance with a ratio to be determined by the population of said counties as shown by
the Federal census next preceding any apportionment hereunder. [As amended by Const. Amend.
23; Const. Amend. 45.]
Publisher’s Notes. The provision of this section requir-
ing a representative from each county was held unconsti-
tutional, under the U.S. Constitution, in Yancey v. Faubus,
238 F. Supp. 290 (E.D. Ark. 1965), and Wells v. White, 274
Ark. 197, 623 S.W.2d 187 (1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 906,
102 S. Ct. 1753, 72 L. Ed. 2d 163 (1982).
Ark. Const. Amend. 45 made no change in the language
of this section.
§ 3. Senatorial districts — Thirty-five members of Senate.
The Senate shall consist of thirty-five members. Senatorial districts shall at all times consist
of contiguous territory, and no county shall be divided in the formation of such districts. “The
615 Art. 8, § 3 APPORTIONMENT

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Board of Apportionment” hereby created shall, from time to time, divide the state into convenient
senatorial districts in such manner as that the Senate shall be based upon the inhabitants of the
state, each senator representing, as nearly as practicable, an equal number thereof; each district
shall have at least one senator. [As amended by Const. Amend. 23.]
Publisher’s Notes. The provision of this section prohib-
iting the division of counties was held unconstitutional,
under the U.S. Constitution, in Wells v. White, 274 Ark.
197, 623 S.W.2d 187 (1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 906, 102
S. Ct. 1753, 72 L. Ed. 2d 163 (1982).
An amendment to this section by Ark. Const. Amend. 45
was declared unconstitutional in Yancey v. Faubus, 238 F.
Supp. 290 (E.D. Ark. 1965). As so amended, the section
would have read: “The Senate shall consist of thirty-five
members. Senatorial districts as now constituted and ex-
isting as heretofore directed by the Supreme Court of
Arkansas in the case of Pickens v. Board of Apportionment,
220 Ark. 145, 246 S.W.2d 556, shall remain the same and
the number of Senators from the districts shall not be
changed.”
§ 4. Duties of Board of Apportionment.
On or before February 1 immediately following each Federal census, said board shall
reapportion the State for Representatives, and in each instance said board shall file its report
with the Secretary of State, setting forth (a) the basis of population adopted for representatives;
(b) the number of representatives assigned to each county; whereupon, after 30 days from such
filing date, the apportionment thus made shall become effective unless proceedings for revision
be instituted in the Supreme Court within said period. [As amended by Const. Amend. 23; Const.
Amend. 45.]
Publisher’s Notes. Before amendment by Ark. Const.
Amend. 45, this section read: “The Board shall make the
first apportionment within ninety days from January 1,
1937; thereafter, on or before February 1 immediately
following each Federal census, said Board shall apportion
the State for both Representatives and Senators, and in
each instance said Board shall file its report with the
Secretary of State, setting forth (a) the basis of population
adopted for representatives; (b) the basis for senators; (c)
the number of representatives assigned to each county; (d)
the counties comprising each senatorial district and the
number of senators assigned to each, whereupon, after
thirty days from filing date, the apportionment thus made
shall become effective unless proceedings for revision shall
be instituted in the Supreme Court within said period. [As
amended by Const. Amend. 23.]”
§ 5. Mandamus to compel Board of Apportionment to act.
Original jurisdiction (to be exercised on application of any citizens and taxpayers) is hereby
vested in the Supreme Court of the State (a) to compel (by mandamus or otherwise) the board to
perform its duties as here directed and (b) to revise any arbitrary action of or abuse of discretion
by the board in making such apportionment; provided any such application for revision shall be
filed with said Court within 30 days after the filing of the report of apportionment by said board
with the Secretary of State; if revised by the court, a certified copy of its judgment shall be by the
clerk thereof forthwith transmitted to the Secretary of State, and thereupon be and become a
substitute for the apportionment made by the board. [As added by Const. Amend. 23; as amended
by Const. Amend. 45.]
Publisher’s Notes. Ark. Const. Amend. 45 made no
change in the language of this section.
§ 6. Election of Senators and Representatives.
At the next general election for State and County officers ensuing after any such apportion-
ment, Representatives shall be elected in accordance therewith, Senators shall be elected
henceforth according to the apportionment now existing, and their respective terms of office shall
begin on January 1 next following. Senators shall be elected for a term of four years at the
expiration of their present terms of office. [As added by Const. Amend. 23; as amended by Const.
Amend. 45.]
Publisher’s Notes. Although Ark. Const. Amend. 45
amended this section to read as it appears above, the court
held in Williams v. Elrod, 244 Ark. 671, 426 S.W.2d 797
(1968) that the lot drawing provisions of Const. Amend. 23
were not in conflict with the provisions of Const. Amend. 45
and are still valid. As added by Const. Amend. 23, this
section read: “At the next general election for State and
County officers ensuing after such apportionment, senators
616 Art. 8, § 4 CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS

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and representatives shall be elected in accordance there-
with and their respective terms of office shall begin on
January 1 next following. At the first regular session
succeeding any apportionment so made, the Senate shall
be divided into two classes by lot, eighteen of whom shall
serve a period of two years and the remaining seventeen
for four years, after which all shall be elected for four years
until the next reapportionment hereunder.”