Arkansas Condo Board Roles & Responsibilities
What each board position actually does, how many people you need, and how to keep a volunteer board functioning as members rotate out year after year — including where board composition is actually set by state law versus your own bylaws.
Arkansas at a Glance
Most HOA boards have three to five members, elected by the membership for terms set in the bylaws — often one to two years, frequently staggered so the entire board doesn't turn over at once. Your specific bylaws define much of the exact structure, but in some states, part of that structure — minimum board size, owner-eligibility, or officer requirements — is actually set by statute, not left to the association to decide.
⚠ Common mistake: Assuming Arkansas's minimum board size comes from HOA law. It comes from general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only if your association is incorporated as a nonprofit, so check your articles of incorporation.
Here's the ArmadealioLet me put that in plain words…
Arkansas's condo law doesn't set board rules. Your bylaws decide whether you even have a board, and owners holding two-thirds of the building's value can change how the condo is run.
President
Runs board meetings, is usually the primary point of contact with homeowners and outside parties (attorneys, vendors, the county), and typically has authority to sign on the association's behalf for routine matters. The president does not unilaterally make board decisions — actions still require a board vote — but does set the agenda and keep meetings moving.
Secretary
Keeps official records: meeting minutes, the membership roll, and official correspondence. In a self-managed HOA, the secretary is often the person who ends up being the institutional memory of the association — the one who can answer "wait, when did we actually vote on that?" This role matters more than it sounds like it should, because undocumented decisions are one of the most common sources of later disputes.
Treasurer
Handles dues collection, financial reporting, and the annual budget process. Many associations require some form of annual budget, and increasingly a reserve study projecting future major expenses. The treasurer role is also the one most commonly outsourced even in an otherwise self-managed association — hiring an accountant or bookkeeper for the mechanics while the treasurer sets policy and reviews the numbers is common and often worth the cost.
Arkansas — Officer RequirementsGeneral corporate law
1993 act: a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and any other officers the board appoints, unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise. One officer must handle minutes and records, and one person may hold more than one office. 1963 act: a president, a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, and other officers as needed, elected or appointed for terms of up to 3 years as the articles or bylaws provide.
Minimum board size and who can serve
Whether your association has a statutory floor on board size, and whether some or all of the directors must be owners, depends on your state. Where a rule exists, it usually comes from one of two places: a law written specifically for homeowners or condominium associations, or general nonprofit corporation law, which applies only because the association is incorporated as a nonprofit. The badge on each rule below shows which one applies in Arkansas.
Arkansas — Minimum Board SizeGeneral corporate law
At least 3 directors under either act. Under the 1993 act, the articles or bylaws set the exact number and can change it, but never below 3. Under the 1963 act, the articles of incorporation set the number, but not fewer than 3.
Arkansas — Owner/Member RequirementGeneral corporate law
1993 act: directors must be individuals, and the articles or bylaws may add other qualifications; the act's qualification section does not require directors to be members. 1963 act: we found no provision on this.
Arkansas — Other Eligibility Rules
1993 act: directors must be individuals (people, not companies), and the articles or bylaws may set other qualifications. 1963 act: we found no provision on this.
Term limits
Some states cap how long a single director term can run. A cap on one term is different from a limit on how many terms in a row someone can serve: a term cap alone doesn't stop a director from being re-elected. That takes a separate consecutive-term limit. Check both rows in the reference below for Arkansas.
Arkansas — Term LimitsGeneral corporate law
1993 act: the articles or bylaws must set the term, which may not exceed 6 years (or the corporation's stated duration, if shorter), except for designated or appointed directors. If no term is set, it is 1 year. 1963 act: the articles set the term. For a corporation with perpetual existence it must be at least 1 year and no more than 6 years; for a corporation of limited duration, no more than one-third of its stated duration.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure
If a board member stands to personally benefit from a contract or decision the board is voting on, several states require a specific disclosure process before that vote can happen — not just a general "act in good faith" expectation. Some states wrote this rule directly into their HOA or condominium statute; others expressly import the state's general nonprofit corporation conflict-of-interest rules instead of creating a separate one.
Arkansas — Conflict-of-Interest RuleGeneral corporate law
1993 act: a transaction in which a director has an interest cannot be voided, and the director is not liable because of it, if (1) it was fair to the association when made, (2) the board approved it after the facts and the director's interest were disclosed, by a majority of directors with no interest that is also at least a majority of the whole board, or (3) the members approved it after disclosure, without counting votes controlled by the interested director. The articles, bylaws, or a board resolution may add requirements. 1963 act: we found no provision on this.
Here's the ArmadealioHere's the short version…
If your association is incorporated, a deal in which a director has a personal stake should be disclosed and approved by the directors who don't have one, or it has to be fair to the association.
⚠ Common mistake: Treating a conflict of interest casually because "everyone already knows" a board member has a stake in a vendor contract. In states with a statutory disclosure requirement, informal awareness isn't the same as a documented disclosure — skipping the formal step can make the contract itself challengeable later, regardless of whether the board's decision was actually reasonable.
Additional roles on larger boards
Associations with five or more board members sometimes add a vice president (covers for the president, sometimes chairs a specific committee like ARC) and an at-large member with no fixed portfolio, available to take on whatever the board needs — chairing a violations committee, leading a specific project, or simply providing another vote and perspective.
Can one person hold two roles?
It depends mostly on your bylaws, and in some states on the statute itself. Very small associations sometimes explicitly allow combining roles out of necessity. Others prohibit certain combinations — most commonly, keeping treasurer separate from any role with check-signing authority, as a basic financial control. Check your specific bylaws, and the state reference below, before assuming either way.
The real challenge: surviving turnover
The hardest part of running a self-managed board usually isn't any single role — it's what happens when the person who understood how everything worked rotates off the board and nobody wrote it down. A self-managed HOA has no institutional memory beyond what the current board happens to remember or document. The associations that handle this well share one habit: they write things down as they happen, not from memory afterward — meeting minutes the same day, a violation logged when it's observed, a decision recorded the moment it's made.
State-by-State Quick Reference
Select your state below for its actual board-composition rules. Every field is tagged with where the rule comes from — a statute written for HOAs or condominiums, general nonprofit corporate law that happens to apply, or your own governing documents — because those aren't the same thing, even when the resulting number looks identical.
| Scope / governing statute | Arkansas's Horizontal Property Act (Ark. Code 18-13) governs condominiums created by a recorded master deed. It requires bylaws recorded with the master deed that state the form of administration (an administrator, a board of administration, or otherwise) and who presides over owners' meetings and keeps the minutes, but sets no board size, eligibility, officer, term, or conflict rules. Owners holding two-thirds of the building's value may change the system of administration. If the association is incorporated as a nonprofit, the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act applies. |
| Minimum board size General corporate law | At least 3 directors under either act. Under the 1993 act, the articles or bylaws set the exact number and can change it, but never below 3. Under the 1963 act, the articles of incorporation set the number, but not fewer than 3. |
| Owner/member requirement General corporate law | 1993 act: directors must be individuals, and the articles or bylaws may add other qualifications; the act's qualification section does not require directors to be members. 1963 act: we found no provision on this. |
| Other eligibility rules | 1993 act: directors must be individuals (people, not companies), and the articles or bylaws may set other qualifications. 1963 act: we found no provision on this. |
| Officer requirements General corporate law | 1993 act: a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and any other officers the board appoints, unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise. One officer must handle minutes and records, and one person may hold more than one office. 1963 act: a president, a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, and other officers as needed, elected or appointed for terms of up to 3 years as the articles or bylaws provide. |
| Max individual term General corporate law | 1993 act: the articles or bylaws must set the term, which may not exceed 6 years (or the corporation's stated duration, if shorter), except for designated or appointed directors. If no term is set, it is 1 year. 1963 act: the articles set the term. For a corporation with perpetual existence it must be at least 1 year and no more than 6 years; for a corporation of limited duration, no more than one-third of its stated duration. |
| Consecutive-term limit | 1993 act: directors may be elected for successive terms unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise. 1963 act: a director may serve beyond the specified term only by re-election as provided in the articles of incorporation. |
| Conflict-of-interest disclosure General corporate law | 1993 act: a transaction in which a director has an interest cannot be voided, and the director is not liable because of it, if (1) it was fair to the association when made, (2) the board approved it after the facts and the director's interest were disclosed, by a majority of directors with no interest that is also at least a majority of the whole board, or (3) the members approved it after disclosure, without counting votes controlled by the interested director. The articles, bylaws, or a board resolution may add requirements. 1963 act: we found no provision on this. |
| Citation | Ark. Code §§ 18-13-103; 18-13-108; 18-13-109 |
Read the law
What Arkansas's law actually says about board composition, in its own words, with links to the full text where available:
-
Ark. Code § 18-13-108(b)(1)
secondary source
- Governing Statute / Scope: “Form of administration, indicating whether this shall be in charge of an administrator or of a board of administration, or otherwise”
-
Ark. Code § 18-13-109(a)
secondary source
- Governing Statute / Scope: “the co-owners representing two-thirds (⅔) of the total value of the building may, at any time, modify the system of administration”
-
Ark. Code § 4-33-803
- Minimum Board Size: “A board of directors must consist of three (3) or more individuals, with the number specified in or fixed in accordance with the articles or bylaws.”
- Minimum Board Size: “The number of directors may be increased or decreased (but to no fewer than three (3)) from time to time”
-
Ark. Code § 4-28-211
- Minimum Board Size: “The number of directors shall be fixed by the articles of incorporation except that they shall not be fewer than three (3).”
- Maximum Individual Term: “the terms of office for a perpetually existing corporation shall be not less than one (1) year nor more than six (6) years”
- Maximum Individual Term: “the terms of office for a corporation of limited duration shall be for not more than one-third of the stated period of duration”
- Consecutive Term Limit: “in no case may a director or directors hold office for longer than his or her specified term, except by reelection as provided in the articles of incorporation”
-
Ark. Code § 4-33-802
- Owner/Member Eligibility Requirement: “All directors must be individuals. The articles or bylaws may prescribe other qualifications for directors.”
-
Ark. Code § 4-33-840
- Required Officer Positions: “Unless otherwise provided in the articles or bylaws, a corporation shall have a president, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as are appointed by the board.”
- Required Officer Positions: “The same individual may simultaneously hold more than one (1) office in a corporation.”
-
Ark. Code § 4-28-213
- Required Officer Positions: “The officers of a corporation shall consist of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and such other officers and assistant officers as may be deemed necessary.”
- Required Officer Positions: “The officers shall be elected or appointed in such manner and for such terms, not exceeding three (3) years, as may be prescribed in the articles of incorporation or bylaws.”
-
Ark. Code § 4-33-805
- Maximum Individual Term: “Except for designated or appointed directors, the terms of directors may not exceed the lesser of six (6) years or the stated duration of the corporation.”
- Maximum Individual Term: “In the absence of any term specified in the articles or bylaws, the term of each director shall be one (1) year.”
- Consecutive Term Limit: “Directors may be elected for successive terms, unless otherwise provided in the articles or bylaws.”
-
Ark. Code § 4-33-831
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “A conflict of interest transaction is not voidable or the basis for imposing liability on the director if any of the following is true”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “the transaction was fair to the corporation at the time it was entered into”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “the material facts of the transaction and the director's interest were disclosed or known to the board of directors and the board authorized, approved, or ratified the transaction”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “if it receives the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors on the board, who have no direct or indirect interest in the transaction”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “a transaction may not be authorized, approved, or ratified under this section by less than a majority of the entire board of directors”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “the material facts of the transaction and the director's interest were disclosed or known to the members and they authorized, approved, or ratified the transaction”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “may not be counted in a vote of members to determine whether to authorize, approve, or ratify a conflict of interest transaction”
- Conflict of Interest Rule: “The articles, bylaws, or a resolution of the board may impose additional requirements on conflict of interest transactions.”
Making the transition easier
Formtabulous keeps your association's records — elections, violations, ARC requests, homeowner communication — in one place that survives board turnover, instead of scattered across whoever's personal inbox happened to handle it.
See how it works →Arkansas — Common Questions
This article is general information about how HOA boards typically operate and is not legal advice. The specific roles, terms, and requirements for your association are set by your bylaws and, in some states, statute — consult the governing documents and, where needed, a qualified attorney for your specific situation.