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Rewritten May 9, 2026
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Arkansas has packed 53 state services into one mobile app, and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders chose her “Capitol for a Day” stop in Springdale to debut it. The MyArkansas app is now available through Apple’s App Store and Google Play, giving Arkansans a single place to handle tasks that once required visits to multiple agency websites.
Thursday’s announcement took place at the state Revenue Office in Springdale. The event was part of the governor’s “Capitol for a Day” program, which moves her and agency heads out of Little Rock for community listening sessions.
Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson said the only thing the app can’t do is take a photo for a new driver’s license. Everything else, he said, is designed to be done from a phone.
The app covers a broad range of transactions. Residents can:
State officials say those features add up to 53 individual services. Sanders directed the Finance Department to build the app after hearing complaints about scattered online processes. She said ease of use was a priority.
“The people of Arkansas don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of state government and, frankly, shouldn’t have to,” Sanders said.
Hudson said privacy and security were major considerations in the app’s design. The state is contracting with Tyler Technologies, a Plano, Texas-based company, to produce and maintain the software. The $6.7 million cost covers both development and seven years of maintenance, according to the Finance Department.
The launch drew a sharp response from Colt Shelby, the Libertarian candidate for governor. Shelby said the state should be more focused on protecting children than making it easier to find a campground.
Shelby cited a Sept. 29, 2025, audit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general. The audit found that 20,964 of 21,268 cases referred to and accepted for investigation by the Arkansas Department of Children and Family Services and the Crimes Against Children Division of Arkansas State Police failed to meet federal screening, assessment and investigation standards.
“Protecting children from rape is more important than finding out where you can go camping,” Shelby said.
He also noted that the state spent $1.2 million to block SNAP recipients from using benefits to buy soda and candy, while child protection work lagged.
“They are not taking care of our most vulnerable,” Shelby said.
Sanders said Thursday afternoon that the audit covered 2023 and 2024 cases and that improvements have already been made. She predicted a new review would produce better results.
“It would be a totally different report if done today,” Sanders said.
Fred Love, the Democratic candidate for governor and a state senator from Little Rock, said the app is a good idea in theory but has to work well in practice.
“Why did it take four years to do this?” Love asked. “I would have done it in my first 100 days, not make it an election season event to score some points.”
Love said many families in Arkansas are struggling with high costs for food, gasoline and child care. If the app saves them a trip to a state office, he said, it could be meaningful.
Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman Marcus Jones said the state has already shown it can handle sensitive information online. His next suggestion was straightforward: to add online voter registration.
The app launch was part of a larger “Capitol for a Day” schedule. Earlier Thursday, Sanders and members of her cabinet held a meet-and-greet at AQ Chicken restaurant that attracted about 150 people.
Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse said the governor’s visits give city staff direct access to state departments. He noted that discussions included planning for the 2030 U.S. census, and that city staff would brief him on any follow-up items.
At a subsequent news conference, Sanders was asked about Austin McCollum of Bentonville, the unopposed candidate for Benton County judge. McCollum was arrested Aug. 1 on charges that he assaulted his wife, and he was arrested again Sept. 29 on suspicion of violating a protective order.
Sanders was among the first officials to call for McCollum to withdraw. Unless he is convicted of a felony, McCollum could still take office after the first of the year.
“It’s safe to say the Legislature will probably do something to clean up the process,” Sanders said, pointing to the next legislative session in January.
Arkansas is following a path other states have already taken. Texas, for example, has promoted a single mobile platform for state services, and several states have adopted “life event” portals that group services by need rather than agency.
Tyler Technologies is one of the largest software vendors in the public sector, and its Arkansas contract could become a reference point for similar projects. The seven-year maintenance agreement leaves room to add new services, though state officials did not commit to anything beyond the initial 53.
For now, residents can download the app from standard app stores. The app itself does not carry a download fee, though standard state fees may apply to certain transactions.
