Lee County, Arkansas Eviction Risk: Low

Lee County, Arkansas eviction laws carries an average eviction-risk score of 2.5/10 (Low), but that headline figure masks meaningful variation across its 7 incorporated places, where scores range from 1.9 to 2.7. The county ranks 7th of 75 Arkansas counties for risk, meaning only 6 counties statewide carry a higher risk profile, placing Lee County in the higher-risk third of the state. For landlords and investors, a Low score reflects manageable legal exposure, but the county's 62.7% renter share and a 37.8% poverty rate signal a tenant pool under real financial pressure, factors that directly affect payment consistency and collection timelines.

Average rent here runs $682 per month, and renters devote an average of 37.3% of income to housing costs, a rent-burden figure well above conventional affordability thresholds. With a total county population of roughly 4,197, the rental market is small and concentrated. Vacancy and absorption dynamics differ sharply from larger Arkansas eviction laws metros, so investors accustomed to high-volume markets should recalibrate expectations around tenant pool depth and turnover costs.

The cities inside Lee County

Lexa carries the county's highest risk score at 2.7/10, a notable step above the county average. Marianna, the county seat and by far the largest community with a population of 3,417, scores 2.5/10, as does Rondo. Because Marianna represents the overwhelming majority of the county's rental inventory, its score is the single most consequential data point for any investor evaluating Lee County as a whole.

The lower end of the risk range belongs to Haynes and LaGrange, both scoring 1.9/10, and Moro and Aubrey, each at 2.2/10. Those smaller communities have populations under 265, so rental supply is thin and individual vacancies carry outsized financial impact. The roughly 0.8-point spread from top to bottom of the county confirms that risk is genuinely hyper-local here: city-level scores, not the county average, should drive individual acquisition decisions.

State-level laws that apply here

All Lee County rentals operate under Ark. Code § 18-17 (Residential Landlord-Tenant Act). For nonpayment of rent, Arkansas eviction laws requires only a 3-day notice, one of the shorter cure periods available anywhere. Lease-violation notices carry a 14-day cure window, and no-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days. Understanding the full Arkansas eviction laws eviction process matters here because, even with favorable notice periods, an uncontested case runs 30 to 60 days to resolution, and contested proceedings extend to 90 to 150 days. On the cost side, the Arkansas eviction costs landlords should budget include court filing fees of $165 to $250, sheriff lockout fees of $40 to $120, and attorney fees ranging from $500 to $2,500 depending on complexity and whether the case is contested.

Arkansas eviction laws imposes no just-cause requirement for eviction and no rent-control framework, and state law preempts any local government from enacting rent control. Source-of-income is not a protected class under Arkansas state law. That combination gives Lee County landlords a relatively clean operating environment from a regulatory standpoint, provided they follow proper notice procedures to the letter.

With a poverty rate of 37.8% and a renter share of 62.7%, Lee County's risk profile is driven more by tenant financial fragility than by hostile landlord-tenant law; review the city grid above to identify which specific communities within the county best align with your income and vacancy tolerance targets.