(a)

(1) In the passage of this section, the General Assembly is cognizant of the responsibilities of the county judge and of the county quorum court with respect to the establishment and operation of public roads and for the construction, maintenance, repair, and upkeep of county roads. The General Assembly is also mindful of the importance of providing reasonable access to the public roads system for the procurement of emergency medical services; the education of school-age children transported by school buses; the obtaining of mail and the goods of commerce; the marketing of the agricultural, livestock, and poultry products produced on Arkansas farms; and access to numerous other services essential to the health, safety, and welfare of thousands of rural families in this state.

(2)

(A) It is, therefore, the purpose and intent of this section to authorize the quorum courts of counties having a population of no less than seven thousand (7,000) nor more than seven thousand five hundred (7,500), according to the 1980 Federal Decennial Census, to enact ordinances authorizing the county judge to provide for the use of county road machinery and equipment, materials, supplies, and labor to make improvements to the roadways serving private property that are deemed essential, under standards and procedures established by the court, to provide access to the public roads of the county in cases of bad weather or the occurrence of other events which may impair citizens of this state from obtaining reasonable and necessary access to the public roads of this state.

(B)

(i) The ordinance enacted by the quorum court shall prescribe the conditions, circumstances, and limitations under which the county judge is authorized to make improvements or to perform work upon roads used for access from private property to the public roads.

(ii) In addition, the court may request the county judge to file reports from time to time, outlining the work performed in providing access of private property to the public roads, in such detail and at such frequencies as may be requested by the court.

(b)

(1) All work performed by the county judge on improvements necessary to make private property accessible to the public roads, as authorized in this section, and which is performed in compliance with the ordinance adopted by the county quorum court authorizing the work, shall be deemed to be public work for which public funds may be expended.

(2) All expenditures of county funds made by the county judge in compliance with this section are determined to be for a public purpose, as defined in this section.