The Arkansas Municipal League is pleased to announce that beginning January 1, 2025, the Arkansas Municipal Clerks Institute will operate under its aegis. This cooperative endeavor with the Arkansas Municipal Clerks, Recorders and Treasurers Association (ACCRTA) and Arkansas State University will continue the 53-year legacy of the state’s primary source of professional education for municipal clerks, recorders and treasurers. It also provides a pathway to the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC) Certified Municipal Clerk and Master Municipal Clerk designations.

“We are excited to partner with both the Arkansas Municipal League and Arkansas State University for an administrative and academic home that will take us through the next 50 years and beyond,” said El Dorado City Clerk and ACCRTA President Heather McVay.

The Institute has been based at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville since the IIMC granted its charter in 1972. Originally run by the school’s Division of Continuing Education, organizational restructuring over time led the ACCRTA in 2022 to seek a new home for the program. The three requirements to maintain accreditation include alignment with an operational oversight entity, and partnerships with both the state clerks association and an institution of higher education. ACCRTA leadership contacted League Executive Director Mark Hayes to explore the possibility of making the existing relationship more formal. Hayes in turn contacted A-State officials and secured their support. A proposal for the administrative change was submitted to IIMC in July of this year and approved in August.

“The Arkansas Municipal League has a long history of close collaboration with the ACCRTA, and I’m delighted to continue that tradition in a more formal way,” Hayes said. “The position of municipal clerk is one of the most essential in local government, and I believe that, in partnership with Arkansas State, the League will be able to provide a stable, long-term home for the Institute and a venue for professionally meaningful educational opportunities.”

With the Institute more centrally located in the state, it will be more accessible to clerks across Arkansas, said League Director of Education Kerrie Lauck. “The Institute’s affiliation with the Arkansas Municipal League will provide a new level of access to our state’s more rural small-town clerks, enhancing service to even more of our citizens.”

The Institute will continue its successful mix of programs including:

• Annual four-day certification Institute with a two-day Advanced Academy.
• At least four one-day workshops at host cities in each district of the state, offering a combination of certification and academy courses.
• Periodic synchronous online, interactive courses for both certification and academy topics.

Institute oversight and operations will be housed at the League’s North Little Rock headquarters, including curriculum and scheduling decisions. The Institute director will be a League employee who will coordinate with the ACCRTA, IIMC and A-State to meet the program’s mission, with A-State providing higher education input and consultation as needed. ACCRTA will continue its pivotal role of evaluating the program’s success, providing expert input and instruction, mentoring and networking.