Arkansas Department of Community Correction and State of Arkansas v. City of Pine Bluff

Summary

The court held that the City’s action seeking to control how a state correctional agency used state-owned property was effectively an action against the State and therefore barred by sovereign immunity. It further held that the transitional-housing statute did not expressly or impliedly waive that immunity because the statutory scheme assigned enforcement of zoning compliance to the state agency rather than the municipality. The court reversed the circuit court and dismissed the City’s petition without reaching venue or the validity of the zoning decision. Justice Baker, joined by Justice Hart, dissented, concluding that the statute’s mandatory language created an implied waiver of sovereign immunity.