Arkansas landlord guide — county ordinances, courthouse info & local rules for Camden
📍 County Seat: Camden 👥 Pop. 22,650 • South-Central Arkansas ⚖️ 13th Judicial Circuit 🚀 Arsenal of Democracy / 3 Governors / Queen City of the Ouachita / Red River Campaign / Wet County
Ouachita County (pronounced “WAH-shih-tah”) is a south-central Arkansas county of 22,650 residents, anchored by Camden — a city with one of the most layered histories in the state. Founded as a French trading post on a bluff above the Ouachita River, incorporated in 1844, and established as one of the most important steamboat ports in the antebellum South, Camden earned the title “Queen City of the Ouachita” when as many as 40,000 bales of cotton shipped from its wharves in a single year. The city has reinvented itself repeatedly: as a Confederate stronghold in the Civil War’s Red River Campaign, as a timber and railroad hub after Reconstruction, as a WWII munitions center when the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot covered 68,000 acres, and today as the hub of the Highland Industrial Park — one of the most active aerospace and defense manufacturing concentrations in the mid-South.
The Camden area is home to Lockheed Martin (PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors), Aerojet Rocketdyne, General Dynamics, L3Harris Technologies (solid rocket motors), and R2S — the Raytheon-Rafael joint venture that opened a $63 million facility in 2025 to manufacture Tamir and SkyHunter missiles for the Iron Dome system and the US Marine Corps. Defense manufacturing is the county’s economic spine. Approximately 84% of the county is forested, supporting timber and pulpwood industries, and Southern Arkansas University Tech (SAU Tech) in East Camden provides workforce and education infrastructure. Ouachita County has produced three Arkansas governors and two U.S. senators from a single family. All evictions are filed in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court. Ouachita County is a wet county.
🚀 Arsenal of Democracy — Highland Industrial Park: Lockheed Martin (PAC-3 MSE), Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris (solid rocket motors), R2S/Raytheon-Rafael ($63M Iron Dome/SkyHunter plant, opened 2025); WWII Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot (68,000+ acres) |
🏛️ Three Governors — George W. Hays, Benjamin Travis Laney Jr., David Hampton Pryor; plus two US Senators: David & Mark Pryor (father-son); Susan Newton Pryor = first woman to run for office in Arkansas |
⚔️ Red River Campaign (1864) — Poison Spring Battleground State Park; Action at Marks’ Mills; Camden Expedition; Confederate stronghold until war’s end |
🚢 “Queen City of the Ouachita” — 40,000 bales of cotton shipped annually; Jesse Bowman (later died at the Alamo) was an early settler; McCollum-Chidester House (1847) on National Register
📊 Quick Stats
County Seat
Camden (10,612)
Population
22,650 (2020 Census)
MSA
Camden Micropolitan Statistical Area (Ouachita & Calhoun counties)
Major Employers
Lockheed Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris, R2S (Raytheon-Rafael), SAU Tech, Ouachita County Medical Center, timber/forestry
Forested Land
~84% of county
Court
13th Judicial Circuit
Rent Control
None
Alcohol
Wet county
⚡ Eviction At-a-Glance
Nonpayment Notice
3-Day Notice to Vacate
Lease Violation
14-Day Notice to Cure or Quit
Month-to-Month Term.
30-Day Written Notice
Week-to-Week Term.
7-Day Written Notice
Eviction Filing
Unlawful Detainer / Complaint
Tenant Response Window
5 days after summons
Eviction Timeline
3–6 weeks typical
Security Deposit Cap
2 months rent (6+ unit landlords)
Deposit Return
60 days after termination
Statute
A.C.A. §§ 18-16-101; 18-17-101 et seq.
Ouachita County Ordinances & Local Rules
Topic
Rule / Notes
Circuit Clerk & Filing
All evictions in Ouachita County are filed in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court. Circuit Clerk: Gladys Nettles — P.O. Box 667 / 145 Jefferson St. SW, Camden, AR 71701; Phone: (870) 837-2230; Fax: (870) 837-2252; Email: gladys.nettles@ouachitacircuit.com. The courthouse is at 145 Jefferson St. SW, Camden. File the Unlawful Detainer complaint after the required notice period expires without tenant compliance.
Rental Licensing
No county-level rental license required. Arkansas has no statewide landlord licensing statute. Check with the City of Camden or the City of East Camden for any local rental registration, code enforcement, or STR permit requirements within their respective city limits.
Rent Control
None. Arkansas has no statewide rent control statute and Ouachita County has no local ordinance. Landlords may raise rents freely at renewal or with 30 days’ written notice on month-to-month tenancies.
Security Deposit
Capped at 2 months’ rent (A.C.A. § 18-16-304). Applies to landlords renting six or more dwellings. Return with written itemized deductions within 60 days of termination (A.C.A. § 18-16-305).
Notice to Vacate — Nonpayment
Written 3-day notice to vacate required before filing for unlawful detainer for nonpayment. Best practice: wait until rent is at least 5 days past due before serving (A.C.A. § 18-17-901). Retain proof of service.
Lease Violation Notice
For non-rent violations, serve a written 14-day notice to cure or quit identifying the specific breach (A.C.A. § 18-17-701). If remedied within 14 days, the tenancy continues.
Month-to-Month Termination
30-day written notice required to terminate a month-to-month tenancy (A.C.A. § 18-17-704). Week-to-week tenancies require 7-day written notice.
Defense Industry Workers — Screening
The Highland Industrial Park defense cluster — Lockheed Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris, R2S, General Dynamics, and related contractors — is the county’s primary economic engine and provides Ouachita County with one of the most stable tenant income profiles of any rural Arkansas county. Full-time W-2 production workers, engineers, and management staff at these companies receive competitive wages, often with federal contract stability. Verify with current pay stubs and prior-year W-2. Some positions require security clearances; if an applicant mentions a clearance, standard income verification still applies — the clearance itself is not documentation of employment or income. Contract and staffing-agency employees at the park should provide the staffing agency’s W-2, not the prime contractor’s name, as their employer of record.
SAU Tech Students & Faculty
Southern Arkansas University Tech, located in East Camden at the former Shumaker NAD site, serves the county’s workforce training pipeline for the defense sector. Faculty and staff are typically year-round W-2 earners. Students renting in Camden: verify enrollment with current registration documentation. Apply standard income-to-rent ratio; student-specific considerations (parental support, scholarships, part-time employment) may require co-signer or larger deposit within statutory limits.
Healthcare Workers
Ouachita County Medical Center is a significant employer in Camden. Hospital and clinic employees are year-round W-2 earners with predictable income. Traveling nurses and agency clinical staff are also common; traveling healthcare workers may present short assignment contracts rather than traditional W-2s — verify the current contract length, daily rate, and gross monthly pay directly from the staffing agency letter or contract.
Timber & Forestry Workers
With 84% of the county forested, timber and pulpwood employment is meaningful. Timber mill and pulpwood yard W-2 employees are the most straightforward to screen. Contract loggers, timber haulers, and independent pulpwood cutters may be self-employed; request two years of Schedule C returns and use net income. Ask about equipment financing obligations, as heavy equipment debt can materially affect actual disposable income.
No Warranty of Habitability (Default)
Arkansas does not impose a general implied warranty of habitability by default. Leases executed after October 2021 carry some statutory habitability protections unless waived in writing. Tenants have no repair-and-deduct remedy under Arkansas law.
Abandoned Property
Personal property remaining after lease termination is deemed abandoned and may be disposed of by the landlord without tenant recourse (A.C.A. § 18-16-108). Document with timestamped photos and video before disposal.
Self-Help Eviction
Prohibited. Do not attempt lockouts, utility shutoffs, or removal of belongings without a court order. Always use the lawful judicial process through the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Camden.
Late Fees & NSF Checks
No statutory cap on late fees in Arkansas. Specify amount and grace period in writing in the lease. For returned checks: $30 per check plus bank fees (A.C.A. § 5-37-307(c)(2)(B)).
Notice Type3-Day Notice to Quit (Civil unlawful detainer) / 10-Day Notice (Criminal failure to vacate)
Notice Period3 days
Tenant Can Cure?No - 3-day civil notice is unconditional quit; tenant must vacate (landlord not required to accept late rent)
Days to Hearing5-15 days
Days to Writ1-5 days
Total Estimated Timeline15-30 days
Total Estimated Cost$100-$350
⚠️ Watch Out
Arkansas historically had a criminal eviction statute allowing landlords to charge tenants with a misdemeanor for failure to vacate. This was struck down in 2023 but some counties still reference it. Civil unlawful detainer is now the primary path.
Serve the required notice based on the eviction reason (nonpayment or lease violation).
Wait for the notice period to expire. If tenant cures the issue (where allowed), the process stops.
File an eviction case with the Circuit Court (or District Court with concurrent jurisdiction). Pay the filing fee (~$65-165).
Tenant is served with a summons and has the opportunity to respond.
Attend the court hearing and present your case.
If you prevail, obtain a writ of possession from the court.
Law enforcement executes the writ and removes the tenant if necessary.
⚠️ Disclaimer: This page provides general information about Arkansas eviction laws and does not constitute legal advice.
Eviction procedures can vary by county and may change over time. Local jurisdictions may have additional requirements or tenant protections.
For specific legal guidance, consult a qualified Arkansas attorney or local legal aid organization.
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reduce their risk of ending up in eviction court. Understanding
tenant screening in Arkansas —
including background checks, credit history, income verification, and rental references — is one of the most
cost-effective steps you can take to protect your rental property. Before you ever need Arkansas's
eviction process, proper tenant screening can help
you identify red flags early and avoid problem tenancies altogether.
Ready to File?
Generate Arkansas-Compliant Legal Documents
AI-generated, state-specific eviction notices, pay-or-quit letters, lease termination documents, and more — pre-filled with your tenant's information and built to Arkansas requirements.
Select your state, eviction reason, and the date you plan to serve notice. We'll calculate your earliest filing date and key milestones.
⚠️ Disclaimer: These calculations are estimates based on state statutes and typical court timelines. Actual results vary by county, court backlog, and case specifics. Always verify current requirements with your local courthouse. This is not legal advice.
Ouachita County market: 13th Judicial Circuit; Circuit Clerk Gladys Nettles, P.O. Box 667, Camden, (870) 837-2230. Wet county. Defense industry W-2 (Lockheed, L3Harris, Aerojet, R2S): most stable income profile; verify W-2 and pay stubs; staffing agency workers — verify W-2 employer of record. SAU Tech faculty/staff: year-round W-2. Healthcare: standard W-2; traveling nurses: verify contract letter. Timber/self-employed: Schedule C 2-year net; ask about equipment debt.
Arkansas key rules: 3-day notice (nonpayment), 14-day cure (violations), 30-day M-to-M termination, no rent control, 60-day deposit return, 2-month cap (6+ unit landlords), no habitability warranty by default, no repair-and-deduct.
Background checks, eviction history, credit reports — get the full picture before handing over the keys.
Ouachita County Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law: From the Queen City of the Ouachita to the Arsenal of Democracy — and What Every Landlord Needs to Know
A French trapper named Fabre settled on a bluff above the Ouachita River in the 1780s, and from that unlikely beginning on a pine-covered hillside in what is now south-central Arkansas, one of the state’s most consequential cities took shape. What started as Écore à Fabri — Fabri’s Bluff — became a Spanish military post in 1782, then an American trading settlement, then a booming steamboat port renamed Camden in 1844. By the 1850s, Camden was shipping as many as 40,000 bales of cotton annually from its wharves, earning the title “Queen City of the Ouachita” as the head of practical navigation on the river — the southernmost point freight could be floated on keelboats or paddled to New Orleans. For a brief period Camden was the second-largest city in Arkansas.
Camden has been reinventing itself ever since. After the Civil War ravaged its antebellum economy, railroads restored it as a timber and commercial hub. Oil was discovered in southern Arkansas in the 1920s. World War II brought the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot — 68,417 acres in Calhoun and Ouachita counties, one of the largest ordnance facilities in the nation, entirely built by the U.S. Navy and forming the basis for what is now East Camden, the only city in Arkansas constructed by the federal government. Today Camden’s Highland Industrial Park hosts one of the most active aerospace and defense manufacturing clusters in the mid-South, with contracts touching some of the most critical weapons systems in current production.
The Arsenal of Democracy: Highland Industrial Park
The Highland Industrial Park in East Camden is billed as the largest industrial park in five states and remains the economic center of gravity for Ouachita and Calhoun counties. The tenant roster reads like a directory of American defense manufacturing. Lockheed Martin produces PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors at the park under Army contracts worth billions. Aerojet Rocketdyne handles rocket propulsion. L3Harris Technologies broke ground in 2025 for an Arkansas Advanced Propulsion Facilities campus manufacturing solid rocket motors. And R2S — the joint venture between Raytheon (an RTX business) and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems — opened a $63 million facility in late 2025 to produce Tamir and SkyHunter missiles for the Iron Dome system and the U.S. Marine Corps, a project that grew from an initial $33 million announcement in October 2023 to a larger commitment of 60 jobs and growing federal order flow.
For landlords, this defense industry concentration means something rare in rural Arkansas: a stable, well-compensated, year-round W-2 workforce. Production workers, engineers, quality assurance technicians, and program managers at these facilities receive competitive wages under federal contract structures that provide more employment stability than most private industries. This is the dominant tenant income profile in Camden and East Camden, and it should be screened straightforwardly: current pay stubs, prior-year W-2, standard income ratios. Note that many positions require or are associated with security clearances — the clearance itself is not income documentation, but its existence is a positive indicator of employment stability and background.
Three Governors, Two Senators, and Arkansas’s Most Politically Influential County
Camden and Ouachita County have produced an extraordinary concentration of Arkansas political talent. Three governors called the county home: George Washington Hays (who oversaw the completion of the Arkansas State Capitol building during his term); Benjamin Travis Laney Jr. (who rose from a rural Ouachita County farm without a high school diploma to serve two terms as governor); and David Hampton Pryor, whose family represents perhaps the most sustained political legacy in modern Arkansas history. David Pryor served as a US Congressman, Governor of Arkansas, and three terms as a US Senator from 1978 to 1997. His son Mark Pryor was elected to the Senate in 2002 and served until 2015. Their mother and grandmother, Susan Newton Pryor, was the first woman to run for public office in Arkansas — a distinction the county carries as a point of pride.
The Red River Campaign: Camden at the Center of the Civil War
In the spring of 1864, Union General Frederick Steele marched south from Little Rock toward Shreveport, Louisiana, as part of the larger Red River Campaign. He got only as far as Camden before Confederate forces blocked his supply lines. The campaign produced several significant engagements on Ouachita County’s soil: the Engagement at Poison Spring on April 18, where Confederate forces destroyed a Federal foraging party and its wagon train, is commemorated today at Poison Spring Battleground State Park northwest of Camden. The Action at Marks’ Mills on April 25 destroyed a second Union supply train and sealed Steele’s fate. He evacuated Camden under cover of darkness on the night of April 26 and retreated toward Little Rock. The county’s 1847 McCollum-Chidester House — once the headquarters of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company stagecoach line — served as a headquarters for generals on both sides during the occupation and is preserved on the National Register of Historic Places.
Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law in Ouachita County
All residential rental relationships in Ouachita County are governed entirely by statewide Arkansas law — A.C.A. §§ 18-16-101 through 18-16-108 and the Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007, A.C.A. §§ 18-17-101 et seq. There is no local rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and no landlord licensing requirement in Camden or Ouachita County.
For nonpayment of rent, serve a written 3-day notice to vacate after rent is at least 5 days past due. For lease violations other than nonpayment, serve a 14-day notice to cure or quit. Month-to-month tenancies require 30 days’ written notice to terminate; week-to-week require 7 days. Security deposits are capped at two months’ rent for landlords with six or more rental units and must be returned with written itemized deductions within 60 days of lease termination. Arkansas does not impose a default implied warranty of habitability; tenants have no repair-and-deduct remedy. Abandoned property may be disposed of after lease termination. Self-help evictions are prohibited. Ouachita County is a wet county.
All evictions in Ouachita County are filed with Circuit Clerk Gladys Nettles, P.O. Box 667 / 145 Jefferson St. SW, Camden, AR 71701, (870) 837-2230.
This guide is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Arkansas landlord-tenant law is governed by the Arkansas Code Annotated and applies statewide, with no local rent control or just-cause eviction requirements in Ouachita County. Consult a licensed Arkansas attorney or contact the 13th Judicial Circuit Court Clerk at (870) 837-2230 for guidance specific to your situation. Last updated: March 2026.
⚠️ Legal Disclaimer: This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Arkansas landlord-tenant law is governed by the Arkansas Code Annotated and applies statewide. Consult a licensed Arkansas attorney for guidance specific to your situation. Last updated: March 2026.
