What to Expect After a DWI Arrest in Arkansas

After a DWI arrest in Arkansas, you may have only seven calendar days after notice is given to request a hearing about your driver’s license. That deadline is separate from your criminal court date. The arrest can lead to two proceedings: an administrative license case through the Office of Driver Services and a criminal DWI case in court. What happens in one does not always determine what happens in the other.

The first job is to read your license paperwork, preserve the evidence from the stop, and understand what the State must prove. An arrest is not a conviction, and neither a roadside test nor a breath-test number decides every issue. For an overview of the charge itself, see Arkansas DWI defense.

What Happens To Your License After A DWI Arrest?

An arresting officer generally takes your license and, if it appears unexpired and valid, gives you a dated receipt. That receipt can serve as temporary driving authority for up to 30 days. It also serves as notice of the proposed administrative action. The important deadlines are different:

Ark. Code § 5-65-402(a)(2), (3), (7), (c). A hearing request does not itself stay the license action. If notice is mailed, the statute treats it as delivered on the postmark date. Follow the specific temporary permit or license status issued to you; do not assume you can drive merely because a hearing or criminal case is pending.

For the steps involved in making the request and seeking restricted driving privileges, see how to challenge a DWI license suspension.

What The Administrative Hearing Decides

The administrative hearing is not a trial of the DWI charge. Driver Services decides whether to sustain or rescind the license action using a preponderance of the evidence standard, rather than the criminal court’s beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard. The agency considers whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe you drove or were in actual physical control while intoxicated or over the prohibited alcohol limit. Where the action rests on a chemical test, the hearing also addresses required advisements, the testing method, and the test result. For an alleged refusal, the hearing examines the refusal and required warning.

The hearing may be held by telephone, and the statute says it is not recorded. An adverse agency decision can be reviewed anew by the circuit court in the county of the alleged offense if the petition is filed within 30 days. Keep the written decision and the mailing or receipt records. (Ark. Code § 5-65-402(a)(8), (b)-(c).)

A later criminal acquittal or dismissal matters. Contrary to the idea that the license suspension necessarily survives a dismissed DWI case, § 5-65-402(d)(2)(B) requires reversal of the administrative suspension or revocation covered by that provision when the related criminal charges are dismissed or result in acquittal. Driver Services must reinstate the driving privilege at no cost under that subsection. The person still needs to provide the required proof and confirm reinstatement, and any independent restriction must be addressed separately. A favorable administrative hearing result, on the other hand, does not itself dismiss the criminal charge.

Ark. Code §§ 5-65-104(b), 5-65-115(b), 5-65-402(c)-(e).

What Happens In The Criminal DWI Case?

Your citation, summons, or court papers identify where and when to appear. In court, the prosecution must prove that you operated or were in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, or that your alcohol concentration was 0.08 or more at the relevant time. Intoxication can arise from alcohol, drugs, or a combination; a valid prescription or medical marijuana authorization is not by itself a defense to impaired driving. (Ark. Code §§ 5-65-102(1), (4), 5-65-103.)

Counsel can review the charging papers and available discovery, examine whether evidence should be excluded, and prepare for negotiations or trial. The timeline varies with the court, discovery, motions, and any requested continuances. Don’t miss a scheduled appearance just because your license hearing has already been resolved.

Arkansas also has an important limit on plea bargaining: § 5-65-107 prohibits reducing a DWI charge to a lesser offense or simply dismissing it as an ordinary negotiated resolution. But that restriction does not mean someone must be convicted when the State fails to prove the charge. An acquittal remains possible after trial. And the First Offender Act’s probation-before-adjudication procedure is unavailable for a DWI charge under § 5-65-108(a). For more on the distinction, see whether an Arkansas DWI can be dismissed.

What Evidence Can Be Challenged?

A DWI defense is not limited to pointing out errors on a report. Each part of the investigation has its own legal and factual requirements:

Breath-test records have concrete requirements. Section 5-65-206(d)(2) requires a testing instrument to have been certified within the three months before arrest and its operator to be trained and certified. Under § 5-65-204(d), the person tested also has a right to an additional chemical test by a qualified person of their choosing. Police must provide the required written notice and reasonable assistance; failure to comply can create a statutory ground to exclude the State-directed chemical test. Courts evaluate substantial compliance and the reasonableness of assistance under the actual circumstances, not a rule that every error requires exclusion. (Johnson v. State, 2023 Ark. App. 589; Chambers v. State, 2012 Ark. 407.)

Refusing a requested chemical test has consequences of its own. Under § 5-65-205, qualifying refusal is a separate violation and a first refusal carries a 180-day administrative suspension. Arkansas’s implied-consent statute also treats a blood draw differently: absent exigent circumstances, a police-requested blood test requires a warrant or express consent. A person can face a DWI prosecution even without a chemical result when other admissible evidence proves impairment. See DWI cases without a chemical test.

Ark. Code §§ 5-65-202, 5-65-204(d)-(e), 5-65-205, 5-65-206(d); Johnson v. State, 2023 Ark. App. 589; Chambers v. State, 2012 Ark. 407.

Possible Penalties And Getting Your License Back

For a first DWI conviction under the current law, § 5-65-111 provides an unclassified misdemeanor with a general jail range of 24 hours to one year; the court may order public service instead of imprisonment if it states its reasons in the judgment. Section 5-65-112 sets a $150 to $1,000 fine, apart from applicable costs and fees. A passenger under 16 can increase the minimum incarceration period, subject to the statute’s separate exception.

Repeat offenses can bring longer minimum incarceration and felony exposure. Under § 5-65-111, a fourth DWI within the applicable ten-year period is an unclassified felony, while a sixth or subsequent offense within the applicable twenty-year period is a Class B felony. Qualifying prior convictions from other jurisdictions can count. Offenses before July 28, 2021, require separate review under the law applicable to those dates. See the first-DWI guide.

The license penalties follow separate rules. Section 5-65-104 generally calls for a six-month administrative suspension for a first DWI. A qualifying alcohol-related suspension may allow an ignition-interlock restricted license, potentially available immediately through Driver Services after meeting the requirements; that option is not the same for a controlled-substance-only suspension. A first chemical-test refusal has its separate 180-day provision. Interlock devices, monitoring, program completion, and reinstatement requirements can add costs even when the criminal fine is at the low end.

After a guilty or no-contest plea or conviction, § 5-65-109 requires a presentence screening and assessment report, which includes a driving record and alcohol assessment. Education or treatment requirements may apply to license reinstatement under §§ 5-65-104 and 5-65-115. Section 5-65-108(b) permits probationary supervision to monitor compliance with court orders in addition to the mandatory DWI penalties; it does not authorize Act 346 treatment in place of a DWI conviction.

Ark. Code §§ 5-65-104, 5-65-108, 5-65-109, 5-65-111, 5-65-112, 5-65-115, 5-65-118 (effective July 1, 2026), 5-65-205. Administrative prior-offense lookback periods and criminal sentencing lookback periods are not identical.

What To Do Before Your First Court Date

• Read every page of the license notice now. Identify when notice was given, where to send the written hearing request, and when temporary driving authority expires. Missing the seven-day deadline can forfeit the administrative hearing opportunity.
• Keep your citation, temporary receipt, bond papers, and court date. The license hearing and criminal court appearance are separate obligations. Save proof of any hearing request or permit issued.
• Preserve the original timeline. Save receipts, rideshare records, messages, passenger information, and any dashcam or business-camera footage. Videos can be overwritten, and the timing of drinking, driving, and testing can be disputed.
• Identify any medical or testing issues for counsel. Provide medication lists, relevant medical information, and the precise instructions given during tests. Do not discontinue prescribed treatment or change medical care based on the charge.
• Avoid voluntary explanations about the incident before legal advice. Officers can use your account of who drove, when you drank, or what medication you took as evidence. Do not alter records or try to coordinate anyone else’s version of events. See what DWI police reports can omit.

Updated October 24, 2026

This blog post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Wesley Rhodes, Attorney at Law. If you need legal advice about your specific situation, you should consult with a qualified criminal defense attorney.