On February 28^th, the Arkansas GIS Office submitted the 2017 BAS (Boundary and Annexation Survey) to the US Census Bureau. Included in this submittal are annexations/de-annexations/boundary changes recorded with the Secretary of State’s Office in 2017. Also included are boundary corrections and historic annexations that took place prior to 2017.

Below is a breakdown of the submittal:

• 440 total records

• 137 records contain associated annexation/de-annexation/boundary change documents

• 303 records do not have an associated document and represent our attempt to synchronize Census data with ours. We are working with the US Census Bureau and the Secretary of State’s Office to qualify these with annexation documents where needed.

All of this work will be incorporated into the 2020 Census map files.  More accurate municipal boundaries will ensure the population totals for each city once the 2020 count occurs is correct.  After its release, the data will also be used by election administration officials in the redistricting process.  Ultimately, the goal is to have the information represented be more accurate than in previous versions.

The Arkansas GIS Office will have another opportunity to submit the 2017 BAS on May 31^st. This submittal will include historic annexations/boundary corrections that may be identified before May 31^st.