Community and Rural Enterprise Development Clinic Examines Small Town Challenges

The U of A School of Law's Community and Rural Enterprise Development (CRED) Clinic has released a comprehensive five-part report examining the governance capacity, legal needs and resource challenges facing Arkansas' incorporated towns.

The report, Arkansas Incorporated Towns: Their Governance Capacity and Legal Needs, was produced in collaboration with the Arkansas Municipal League. Recent law graduates Adam Hagler (J.D. '26), Haley Smith (J.D. '26) and Joshua Han (J.D. '26) worked alongside Peter Norman, assistant professor and director of the CRED Clinic, to survey incorporated towns across Arkansas and analyze the findings. Their research culminated in a five-part report that offers recommendations to help strengthen local governance and address key legal and resource needs in the state's smallest municipalities.

Smith said she had a wonderful experience working with the CRED clinic team and conducting the survey as a student. "Specifically, I must credit our wonderful professor, Peter Norman, who led the survey," she added. "He genuinely cares about his students and the state of Arkansas. I hope our findings can be used to bring awareness to the lack of legal sources available to these rural areas and spark meaningful conversations about how to bridge that gap."

"Arkansas' smallest towns aren't short on community spirit, but they're often short on capacity," Norman said. "Local leaders want to solve problems and improve quality of life, but they need the legal, financial and technical resources to make that happen. Our report is the first to ask what those communities need to help local governments deliver on their priorities."

The CRED Clinic began working with its first municipal client in 2025 when a small town in the Ozarks sought help with drafting its first municipal ordinances in several years. While working with the client, members of the clinic were struck by the gap between powers given to towns by state law and the reality of implementing ordinances in towns that lack police departments or municipal attorneys. As a result, the research process for this report began. The study is intended to be an early step into improving governance capacity in the state's smallest towns and ability to engage effectively in democratic self-governance.