Prairie County Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law: Two County Seats, the Agricultural Wheel, a Plant Found Nowhere Else on Earth, and What Every Landlord Needs to Know
Prairie County is one of only a handful of Arkansas counties with two county seats — a distinction it has carried since 1885, when it became impractical for residents of the southern portion of the county to reach Des Arc during the frequent flooding that characterized the White River before the era of flood control. The second judicial district was established at De Valls Bluff, and both courthouses have operated continuously ever since. The northern courthouse at Des Arc — a 1913 Georgian-style building on the National Register of Historic Places — features pressed-tin ceilings, white ceramic tile and hardwood floors, and an unusual second-floor courtroom with a semicircle bench whose metal extension arms hold light bulbs. The southern courthouse at De Valls Bluff is a 1939 Quasi-Georgian structure. Gaylon Hale serves as the combined County/Circuit Clerk for both districts from the Des Arc office.
The county takes its name from the Grand Prairie — the distinctive flat grassland that once spread across what are now Arkansas, Prairie, Lonoke, and Monroe counties between the White River and Arkansas River bottomlands. The Grand Prairie is today Arkansas’s most important rice-producing region, and Prairie County is firmly within it. Rice, soybeans, cotton, wheat, and catfish aquaculture form the county’s economic foundation, with the White River providing both recreational fisheries and, through the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project, surface water to supplement groundwater supplies that have been significantly depleted by decades of rice irrigation pumping.
The Agricultural Wheel: Prairie County’s Contribution to National Agrarian Politics
On February 15, 1882, a group of farmers gathered at the McBee home eight miles southwest of Des Arc and organized what they called the Wattensas Farmers’ Club. Their intention was to address the economic hardship facing rural farmers through collective advocacy. The organization grew rapidly — within years it had expanded into a statewide movement known as the Agricultural Wheel, which advocated for farmers’ rights, cooperative purchasing, and political reform across Arkansas and into neighboring states. The Agricultural Wheel eventually merged with and contributed to the national Farmers’ Alliance, one of the most significant agrarian political movements in American history and a direct precursor to the Populist Party of the 1890s. The humble gathering near Des Arc in 1882 was thus one of the founding moments of rural progressive politics in post-Reconstruction America.
Stern’s Medlar: The Only Plant of Its Kind on Earth Found in Prairie County
In 1990, botanists discovered in Prairie County a plant species that had never been documented before — Stern’s Medlar, a member of the rose family — growing in a small wooded area now known as the Konecny Grove Natural Area. Approximately 25 individual plants are known to exist, all of them in that single location in Prairie County. No other population of Stern’s Medlar has ever been found anywhere else in the world. The site is protected as a natural area. This is by any measure one of the most botanically significant facts about any county in the United States.
The Civil War, Des Arc, and the Aquifer Crisis
In January 1863, Union General Samuel Curtis’s forces took De Valls Bluff and proceeded to Des Arc. The occupation proved consequential: Union soldiers partially dismantled Des Arc, transporting building materials south to their base at De Valls Bluff. The town rebuilt after the war, and by 1875 had reclaimed the county seat. The name “Des Arc” derives from the French, meaning “bow” or “bend” — a reference to the curve of Bayou des Arc two miles north of the city.
The most pressing contemporary challenge facing Prairie County’s agricultural economy is water. The Alluvial Aquifer beneath the Grand Prairie — upon which rice farming has depended since the early 1900s — has been significantly depleted by generations of irrigation pumping. The deeper Sparta Sands Aquifer has also been drawn down. The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project, which diverts water from the White River near De Valls Bluff and distributes it across the farming area through canals and delivery systems, represents the region’s primary response to this crisis.
Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law in Prairie County
All residential rental relationships in Prairie County are governed entirely by statewide Arkansas law. There is no local rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and no landlord licensing requirement. For nonpayment, serve a 3-day notice to vacate after rent is 5+ days past due. For lease violations, serve a 14-day notice to cure. Month-to-month tenancies require 30 days’ written notice to terminate. Security deposits are capped at two months’ rent for landlords with six or more units, returned with itemized deductions within 60 days. No implied warranty of habitability by default; no repair-and-deduct remedy; self-help evictions prohibited. Prairie County is a wet county.
File in the correct district: Northern District (Des Arc) — Gaylon Hale, 200 Courthouse Square Suite 104, Des Arc, AR 72040, (870) 256-4434. Southern District (De Valls Bluff) — Gaylon Hale, 183 Prairie St., De Valls Bluff, AR 72041, (870) 998-2314. File where the property is located.
This guide is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed Arkansas attorney or contact the 17th Judicial Circuit Court Clerk for guidance specific to your situation. Last updated: March 2026.
|
