Year: 2026

A Class Y felony is Arkansas's most serious lettered felony class, carrying an ordinary sentence of ten to 40 years in prison, or life. Probation generally isn't available. The exact offense, offense date, prior convictions, and your age when the conduct occurred...

Third-degree domestic battering is the entry-level domestic battery charge in Arkansas. It's usually a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, but it becomes a Class D felony when the alleged victim was pregnant or you have a...

A Class D felony is Arkansas's lowest lettered felony class. The ordinary maximum is six years in prison and a $10,000 fine, with no minimum prison term. A first offense can qualify for probation, a suspended sentence, or the First Offender Act, but none is...

When someone dies and the State doesn't allege an intentional killing, the charging decision often comes down to a single question: was the defendant reckless or negligent? That distinction separates reckless manslaughter — a Class B felony — from negligent homicide,...

Terroristic threatening and terroristic act require different proof in Arkansas. Terroristic threatening concerns a threat made with the purpose of terrorizing another person. Terroristic act concerns specified shootings or projected objects, with the purpose of...

"If you have nothing to hide, take a polygraph." It sounds reasonable. Investigators say it because it works — not because it's true. If you're under investigation in Arkansas and police have asked you to submit to a lie detector test, the question isn't whether...

Breaking or entering and burglary are different Arkansas felonies. Breaking or entering covers breaking into or entering buildings, vehicles, and listed containers for a theft or felony; burglary requires unlawful entry or remaining in an occupiable structure with the...

If you think there might be a warrant out for your arrest in Arkansas, the worst thing you can do is nothing. A warrant generally doesn't expire on its own, and it can surface at a traffic stop, in a background check, over a license issue, or in any other contact with...

Arkansas's death-by-delivery offenses took effect on April 11, 2023. Knowingly providing fentanyl that causes another person's death can lead to aggravated death by delivery, with a prison range of 20 to 60 years or life. A sale isn't required, but the State still has...

A DWI can cost you your commercial driving privileges even if you were off duty in your personal vehicle. For a CDL holder, a first qualifying DWI conviction or chemical-test refusal carries at least a one-year commercial disqualification; a second qualifying major...