Dierks City Council Passes Banned Breed Ordinance

Monday night, the Dierks City Council passed a banned bred ordinance.

According to the ordinance, it is now unlawful to have a dog that is on the banned breed list within the city limits of Dierks. The list of banned breeds includes pitbulls, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, as well as, wolf and coyote hybrids.

If a resident is in possession of a banned breed dog, the dog will be impounded for five days at the Howard County Animal Shelter. The resident will be issued a citation and if convicted of being in violation of the banned breed ordinance, the resident will be fined $600. They will also have to pay a $200 fee to have their dog released from the animal shelter.

On a resident’s second offense of being in possession of a banned breed dog, the resident will be cited and forced to pay a fine of $1,000. On the second offense, the dog will be humanly destroyed.

The ordinance was passed with an emergency clause and will go into effect immediately.

City Attorney Dustin Bissell provided the council with information concerning donations provided by the city to entities like the Dierks Chamber of Commerce and Dierks Cemetery Association. Bissell provided a memo from the Arkansas Municipal League that stated those type of donations are not permissible.

Bissell also informed the council that the Municipal League had provided him with information concerning the legality of a person serving on the city council if they do not live within the ward that they are currently serving. He stated the council nor mayor can force someone to step down from their position, however, a citizen of Dierks could file a lawsuit that if held up by the court, would remove the council member from the city council.

None of the current city council members filed for re-election in the upcoming General Election in November. Therefore, all council members will be appointed by the mayor in January of 2025.