Year: 2025

Arkansas doesn't have a separate crime for helping someone commit an offense. If the State says you helped, it charges you with the offense itself — and if it proves you were an accomplice, you can face the same conviction and the same sentencing range as the person...

Many drug and gun charges come from searches of shared homes. But the State must prove you had control and knowledge of the items found — especially in rooms you don’t live in. 1. Shared Spaces Complicate Constructive Possession Prosecutors must prove you: knew the...

Arkansas police may detain you for the time reasonably needed to handle a traffic violation and related safety tasks. They cannot add time to investigate an unrelated crime without an independent legal justification. There is no universal number of minutes that makes...

Residential and Commercial Burglary in Arkansas: What the State Must Prove Burglary charges in Arkansas are serious felonies — and the law is often misunderstood. Many people believe burglary requires theft, but that is not true. Burglary is based on entry plus...

You can face a drug charge when police find drugs in a rental car, even if you don't own the car or the drugs. But a conviction requires proof of possession. When the State relies on constructive possession, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you exercised...

In an Arkansas DWI case, neither a breath test nor a blood test is automatically better for the defense. They're vulnerable in different places. A breath result depends on the procedure at the station, and a blood result depends on how police got the blood and what...

Yes. You can be convicted of DWI in Arkansas even if the arresting officer never saw you drive. The State can prove driving through circumstantial evidence, or it can prove you were in actual physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated. But finding you impaired...

Shoplifting Charges in Arkansas: When a Misdemeanor Becomes a Felony Shoplifting is one of the most common charges in Arkansas — but the penalties vary dramatically based on the value and circumstances. What starts as a misdemeanor can quickly turn into a felony. 1....

In Arkansas, drug weight means the weight of the drug plus everything mixed into it, but not the bag it came in. Purity doesn't lower it: a mixture that's mostly filler still counts at its full weight. What matters is what actually got weighed, what actually got...

Breaking or entering is the charge Arkansas uses for car break-ins, vending-machine and coin-box thefts, and entries into buildings that don't amount to burglary. It's a Class D felony under § 5-39-202, punishable by up to six years, and it doesn't require that...