Municipal Legal Defense Program
MLDP
The Municipal Legal Defense Program is an optional program whereby participating municipalities can pool their resources and provide limited protection for the personal assets of officials, board or commission members and employees. Protection to municipalities from civil rights lawsuits is also available under the MLDP, as is drug testing for employees holding commercial drivers’ licenses.
MLDP Portal
Click below to submit a coverage request for a new lawsuit.
MLDP Bylaws
Click below to download the PDF.
Inquiry Service
An inquiry answering service is provided for municipal officials and personnel on any subject involving municipal government. These questions are handled by the League staff who provide answers to municipal officials’ questions by telephone, memorandum, referral, special survey or, when appropriate, on-site consultation. The legal inquiry service is limited to officials and personnel of the cities and towns of Arkansas who participate in the MLDP. League lawyers are governed by rules governing conflict of interest and other limitations on offering advice to persons other than our clients and members. League lawyers are not able to respond to legal questions from members of the general public, who may contact a private attorney for legal advice.
Please call or email us to inquire.
Ordinance and Code Assistance
Providing assistance to cities and towns in the development of municipal codes of ordinances is a significant aspect of the League’s service program. The ordinance and code assistance service involves a thorough study of all the ordinances of an individual city or town and the drafting of a code based on the ordinances. For more information, call 501-374-3484, ext. 256.
Planning Service
The Arkansas Municipal League offers as a service to its member cities a registered city planner for teaching at seminars and for technical consultation with member cities and towns. The first visit each year is complimentary. Jim Von Tungeln, the League staff city planner, reaches every member city through his quarterly City & Town column. To contact at [email protected] or 501-372-3232.
Grants Service
The League offers an in-house grants service for our members. Led by Senior Grants Counsel Caran Curry, services include disseminating information about grant opportunities, coaching local grant writers through application processes, teaching educational and certification classes, operating a listserv and more.
Cable Television Franchise Management Service
The Arkansas Municipal League offers a cable television franchise management service through Local Government Services (LGS). The goals of the program are to ensure that local governments have access to the expertise required to negotiate for the benefits and services needed in our communities on reasonable terms and conditions.
In return for a nominal fee, which is usually based on a city’s population, cities and towns can obtain the following services: assistance in negotiating new terms and conditions for cable television franchise renewals, including the preparation of the franchise document; determining cable companies’ compliance with existing franchise terms and conditions including franchise fee payment review; developing and implementing a community needs assessment to determine the future cable-related needs and interest of cities; assistance for electric cities in negotiating pole attachment agreements and conducting pole count inventories; assistance in the development of public, educational and governmental channels (PEG); assistance with processing requests from companies to transfer an existing cable franchise; and assistance with negotiating tower leases. LGS provides these services in conjunction with the law firm of Moses and Barnett and with the assistance of William Pohts, an engineer specializing in the emerging technologies in telecommunications and electronic systems. For more information or participation in this program, contact Greg Fender at [email protected] or 404-375-7084.