Title 20 — Public Health and Welfare

A declaration becomes operative when: (i) it is communicated to the attending physician; and, (ii) the declarant is determined by the attending physician and another physician in consultation either to be in a terminal condition and no longer able to make decisions regarding admi…

(a) (1) A declaration may be revoked at any time and in any manner by the declarant without regard to the declarant's mental or physical condition. A revocation is effective upon communication to the attending physician or other healthcare provider by the declarant or a witness t…

Upon determining that the declarant is in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious, the attending physician who knows of a declaration shall record the determination and the terms of the declaration in the declarant's medical record.

(a) A qualified patient may make decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment as long as the patient is able to do so. (b) This subchapter does not affect the responsibility of the attending physician or other healthcare provider to provide treatment, including nutrition or hydr…

(a) A declaration under this subchapter is a written advance directive under the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act, § 20-6-101 et seq. (b) The provisions of the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act, § 20-6-101 et seq., concerning compliance by a healthcare provider or healthcare ins…

(a) In the absence of knowledge of the revocation of a declaration, a person is not subject to civil or criminal liability or discipline for unprofessional conduct for carrying out the declaration pursuant to the requirements of this subchapter. (b) A physician or other healthcar…

(a) A physician or other healthcare provider who willfully fails to transfer in accordance with § 20-17-207 is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (b) A physician who willfully fails to record the determination of terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness in accordance with § …

(a) Death resulting from the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment pursuant to a declaration and in accordance with this subchapter does not constitute, for any purpose, a suicide or homicide. (b) The making of a declaration pursuant to § 20-17-202 does not affec…

In the absence of knowledge to the contrary, a physician or other healthcare provider may presume that a declaration complies with this subchapter and is valid.

A declaration executed in another state in compliance with the law of that state or of this state is validly executed for purposes of this subchapter.

An instrument executed before July 20, 1987, which substantially complies with § 20-17-202(a) must be given effect pursuant to the provision of this subchapter.

(a) If any person is a minor or an adult where a valid declaration does not exist and a healthcare proxy has not been designated and who, in the opinion of the attending physician, is no longer able to make healthcare decisions, then the declaration may be executed in the same fo…

This subchapter may be cited as the “Arkansas Rights of the Terminally Ill or Permanently Unconscious Act”.

If any provision of this subchapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this subchapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the pr…

This subchapter takes effect on July 20, 1987.

(1) The following acts and parts of acts are repealed:(1) Acts 1977, No. 879; and(2) All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this subchapter. (1) Acts 1977, No. 879; and (2) All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this subchapter.

This subchapter is cumulative and does not alter or repeal any law or laws in effect before June 9, 1955.

(a) Consent for a licensed physician to conduct a postmortem examination on the body of a deceased person shall be deemed sufficient when given by the deceased, if in writing, and signed and acknowledged before his or her death or when given by whichever one (1) of the following …

After the examination has been completed, the dead body shall be delivered to the relatives or friends of the deceased person for burial.

A.C.A. § 20-17-501Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) There is created on the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State a trust fund to be known as the “Organ Donor Awareness Education Trust Fund”. (b) The fund shall consist of all moneys donated or collected for the purpose…

(a) If booklets or other information sources on the importance of organ donations are provided through the grant program established under § 20-17-502, the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration shall make the materials available to the public through th…

A.C.A. § 20-17-614Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

A.C.A. § 20-17-615Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

A.C.A. § 20-17-616Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) The coroners and medical examiners of the counties of Arkansas shall make reasonable efforts to facilitate procurement of transplantable organs and tissues in coordination with organ recovery agencies. (b) All organs and tissue procured in Arkansas shall be offered first to A…

(a) (1) The Office of Driver Services shall assist in establishing a registry of organ donors by providing information to an organ procurement agency created, organized, and existing under the laws of the State of Arkansas. The information shall list persons who have agreed to ma…

(a) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Medical school” means a medical school or school of osteopathic medicine in this state that is:(A) Accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education; or(B) Approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coor…

(a) (1) (A) The person who assumes original and lawful possession, charge, or control of any body as described in this subchapter shall conduct a diligent search for relatives or next of kin of the deceased, or that person shall request the county sheriff or such other person as …

(a) Any person in charge of a prison, morgue, hospital, funeral parlor, or mortuary, any person who is a public officer, agent, or employee of the state, any county or municipality, and all persons coming into possession, charge, or control of any human body that is unclaimed for…

Upon expiration of the forty-eight (48) hours as provided in § 20-17-703, if the body of a deceased person has not been claimed for burial, the person then having possession, charge, or control of the unclaimed body shall surrender or deliver the unclaimed body to a medical schoo…

(a) An unclaimed dead human body shall not be surrendered under this subchapter to a medical school if there is proof that the deceased has during his or her last illness expressed his or her desire to be buried or otherwise interred. (b) Any adult may by will or otherwise donate…

(a) If a medical school is offered an unclaimed body and determines that there is a need for the unclaimed body, that the unclaimed body is suitable for anatomical science or study, and that the unclaimed body has not been embalmed, then the medical school, at its expense, shall …

(a) A medical school shall cause any unclaimed body offered and accepted under this subchapter to be retained in a proper state of preservation for fifteen (15) days after the date the unclaimed body is received by the medical school. (b) During the time period under subsection (…

(a) At any time when a body as described in this subchapter has been used and deemed of no further value to medical science or study, the medical school shall cause the body to be buried or otherwise disposed of according to law, or the remains may be claimed by a member of the f…

The medical school shall cause a complete record to be kept of all bodies received under this subchapter, and the record shall be open to inspection by any municipal, county, or state officer.

No person shall be civilly liable for possessing, examining, dissecting, or handling in any lawful manner any cadaver under this subchapter.

(a) (1) (A) Any physician removing or otherwise acquiring human tissue, in his or her discretion, after making or causing to be made scientific examination of the human tissue as he or she may deem appropriate or as may be required by law, custom, or rules and regulations of the …

(a) A physician or facility that performs an abortion shall ensure that the fetal remains and all parts are disposed of in accordance with § 20-17-801 and the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009, § 20-17-102. (b) A person shall not perform any biomedical or behavioral r…

All cemeteries now existing in the state shall be registered with the county judge, if under his or her jurisdiction, or with the mayor, as the case may be, and a copy of the registration shall be filed with the Department of Health. This registration shall show the location and …

(a) It shall be unlawful to bury a dead body outside of a registered cemetery. (b) The sexton or person in charge of the cemetery shall keep a correct record on a form prescribed by the Department of Health of each body buried in the cemetery.

(a) Whenever it is proposed to locate a cemetery or to extend the boundaries of an existing cemetery, the party so proposing shall make written application to the county judge or to the mayor of an incorporated city or town, according to whether the cemetery or extension of a cem…

(a) By trust instrument or will, any person may establish a trust fund in perpetuity with the income from the trust fund to go to the upkeep of certain specified burial lots or plots in one (1) or more cemeteries or burial grounds in the State of Arkansas. (b) (1) No amount place…

(a) The circuit court of the county may order the removal of the dead from an abandoned cemetery which lies outside the limits of any city of the first class of one hundred thousand (100,000) or more in population. (b) Notice of the filing of a petition for the removal of the dea…

(a) As used in this section, “lot” means any lot or portion of a lot in a cemetery owned by a county or municipality which has not been used for the interment of human remains and for which no provision for perpetual care was made at the time the lot was sold or at any time subse…

(a) The county judge shall appoint three (3) members to an abandoned cemetery registration board if:(1) At least ten (10) qualified voters within the county petition the county judge to provide minimum maintenance for a specific abandoned cemetery; and(2) In the case of private p…

(a) A county abandoned cemetery registration board shall have the authority to register abandoned cemeteries within the county as defined in § 20-17-905, but only after a petition has been filed pursuant to § 20-17-907. (b) At any time, the board may conduct an examination of a p…

Petitioned abandoned cemeteries that are no more than one (1) acre in size are eligible for minimum maintenance.

(a) If a petitioned abandoned cemetery is on private property with no access by the public, the property owner may grant permission to the county abandoned cemetery registration board to enter for maintenance by providing a written statement. (b) The statement shall be notarized …

Minimum maintenance for petitioned abandoned cemeteries may be secured from any source the county abandoned cemetery registration board can obtain, including work-release prisoners.