Arkansas landlord guide — county ordinances, courthouse info & local rules for Mountain View
📍 County Seat: Mountain View 👥 Pop. 12,359 (2020) ⚖️ 16th Judicial Circuit 🎶 Folk Music Capital of the World / Ozark Folk Center / Blanchard Springs Caverns / Jimmy Driftwood / Dick Powell / Dry County / No Interstate Access
Stone County sits in the heart of the Ozark Mountains in north-central Arkansas, named for the rugged rocky ridges that define its 609-square-mile landscape. With a population of 12,359 (2020 census) and only two incorporated cities — Mountain View (the county seat, ~2,877) and Fifty-Six — it is among the most rural and isolated counties in the state. The county has no access to any U.S. highway and is not served by any Interstate highway; the nearest I-40 access is in Conway, roughly 105 miles to the south. That isolation is, paradoxically, both the county’s greatest challenge and its greatest asset.
Tourism is the county’s #1 industry, generating approximately $64 million in annual revenue from some 286,828 visitors drawn to the Ozark Folk Center State Park, Blanchard Springs Caverns, White River trout fishing, and the Ozark National Forest’s Sylamore District (which covers the northern fifth of the county). Base industries include poultry, livestock, timber, and wood products. All evictions are filed in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court. Stone County is a dry county.
🎶 Folk Music Capital of the World — Mountain View; free courthouse square “pickings” (jam sessions) mid-April through November; Ozark Folk Center State Park (1,000-seat theater, crafts, Ozark Cultural Resource Center); Arkansas Folk Festival (April); Beanfest & Great Arkansas Outhouse Race (October) |
🦇 Blanchard Springs Caverns — Living cave in Ozark National Forest, administered by U.S. Forest Service; two public trail routes; CCC stonework (NR 1995); one of the most visited sites in the National Forest system |
🎵 Jimmy Driftwood & Dick Powell — Jimmy Driftwood (born Timbo, AR near Mountain View; “Battle of New Orleans,” “Tennessee Stud”; organized first 1963 folk festival); Dick Powell (singer, actor, film producer; co-founder Four Star Television) born in Mountain View |
🎸 Courthouse Square Sessions — Informal musicians gather around the Stone County Courthouse lawn on warm evenings from spring through fall to play traditional Ozark string music; admission-free and open to all
📊 Quick Stats
County Seat
Mountain View (~2,877)
Other City
Fifty-Six (only 2 incorporated cities in county)
Population
12,359 (2020 Census)
Major Employers
Tourism, Ozark Folk Center, USFS/NF, government, poultry, timber, Ozarka College
Court
16th Judicial Circuit
Rent Control
None
Alcohol
Dry county — alcohol prohibited
⚡ 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.
Stone County Ordinances & Local Rules
Topic
Rule / Notes
Circuit Clerk & Filing
All evictions in Stone County are filed in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court. Combined Circuit/County Clerk: Angie Hudspeth-Wade — 107 W. Main St., Suite D, Mountain View, AR 72560; Phone: (870) 269-3271; Fax: (870) 269-2303; Email: stoneclerk@yelcot.net; Hours: Mon–Fri, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. File the Unlawful Detainer complaint at the courthouse after the required notice period expires. The Stone County Courthouse on the Mountain View town square is the site of the celebrated free courthouse square “pickings” — informal folk music jam sessions held on warm evenings from mid-April through November that have helped define Mountain View as the “Folk Music Capital of the World.”
Rent Control
None. Arkansas preempts local rent control statewide. No city or county in Arkansas may impose rent control. Landlords throughout Stone County 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 dated 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 the tenant remedies the violation 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.
Dry County
Stone County prohibits the sale of alcohol. Lease provisions addressing on-premises conduct may reference the dry county status for any rental property rules, but should not attempt to regulate off-premises legal behavior.
Tourism-Based Economy & Seasonal Rentals
Mountain View’s tourism season runs approximately mid-April through November, driven by the Ozark Folk Center, Arkansas Folk Festival, and Beanfest. Short-term and vacation rental income is significant in Stone County. If you operate short-term rentals, be aware of Arkansas state sales tax obligations and verify current requirements with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. For long-term tenants employed in seasonal tourism jobs (Ozark Folk Center, lodging, retail), verify income across a full annual cycle — peak-season wages alone may not reflect annual income.
Government & School District Employers
County and city government and the Mountain View School District are the largest year-round employers in Mountain View. Government and school W-2 employees: verify with recent pay stubs and VOE. Ozarka College staff: year-round W-2. USFS Sylamore District employees: federal W-2, highly stable.
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 (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. Use the lawful judicial process through the 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Mountain View.
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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⚠️ 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.
Stone County market: 16th Judicial Circuit; Circuit Clerk Angie Hudspeth-Wade, 107 W. Main St., Suite D, Mountain View, (870) 269-3271; hours M–F 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Dry county. Tourism-dependent economy with a pronounced seasonal cycle (mid-April through November peak). Government, school district, and USFS Sylamore District workers: year-round W-2, stable. Seasonal tourism workers: verify full-year income. Short-term rental hosts: consult AR DFA on state sales tax. Small rental market — document all screening criteria and apply uniformly.
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.
Stone County Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law: The Folk Music Capital of the World, Blanchard Springs Caverns, and What Every Landlord Needs to Know
Stone County was created on April 21, 1873, carved from parts of Izard, Independence, Searcy, and Van Buren counties, and named for the rocky Ozark ridges that define its terrain. It is one of Arkansas’s youngest counties and also one of its most geographically isolated — no U.S. highway crosses its borders, and the nearest Interstate access is I-40 in Conway, more than 100 miles to the south. That isolation preserved exactly the traditional Appalachian and Ozark folk culture — the fiddle tunes, the dulcimers, the lye soap, the basket-making, the storytelling — that had arrived with the county’s earliest settlers and never left. That living heritage ultimately became the county’s greatest economic asset.
How Mountain View Became the Folk Music Capital of the World
In 1963, a group of Mountain View residents led by folk musician Jimmy Driftwood — born in nearby Timbo, and already famous for composing “Battle of New Orleans” and “Tennessee Stud” — held the first annual Arkansas Folk Festival. Mountain View had fewer than 1,000 residents; the festival attracted 2,500 visitors in year one. The festival revealed both the richness of the local folk tradition and the potential of heritage tourism as an economic engine for a county that lacked industry and infrastructure. In the 1970s, federal grants and state support funded the construction of the Ozark Folk Center State Park, which opened in 1973 with a 1,000-seat outdoor theater, a craft village demonstrating traditional Ozark skills, and the Ozark Cultural Resource Center. Today, the Ozark Folk Center draws visitors from across the country and produces the nationally distributed radio show Ozark Highlands Radio. From spring through fall, musicians gather on warm evenings around the Stone County Courthouse lawn for free, impromptu “pickings” — open jam sessions where anyone can pull up a chair, pick up a fiddle or banjo, and play. No admission, no schedule, no stage.
Blanchard Springs Caverns and the Ozark National Forest
The northern fifth of Stone County falls within the Ozark National Forest’s Sylamore District, which encompasses 131,000 acres of forested Ozark hills and is home to Blanchard Springs Caverns — a living cave system administered by the U.S. Forest Service that opened to the public in 1973, the same year as the Ozark Folk Center. The cave’s Civilian Conservation Corps stonework (NR 1995) and its two public hiking routes attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The Syllamo Mountain Bike Trail, a 50-mile system, draws cyclists from throughout the mid-South. The White River runs along the county’s eastern boundary, offering nationally renowned trout fishing. Hell Creek Cave, near the White River, is the only known habitat of Cambarus zophonastes, a blind crayfish found nowhere else on earth, and is protected by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.
Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law in Stone County
All residential rental relationships in Stone County are governed by statewide Arkansas law. There is no local rent control anywhere in Arkansas. For nonpayment, serve a 3-day written notice to vacate after rent is at least 5 days past due, then file an Unlawful Detainer complaint with Circuit Clerk Angie Hudspeth-Wade, 107 W. Main St., Suite D, Mountain View, AR 72560, (870) 269-3271. 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 written itemized deductions within 60 days. No implied warranty of habitability by default; no repair-and-deduct remedy; self-help evictions are prohibited. Stone County is a dry county.
This guide is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed Arkansas attorney 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. Landlord-tenant law is governed by statewide Arkansas statutes. Consult a licensed Arkansas attorney for guidance specific to your situation. Last updated: March 2026.
