Title 18 — Property

(a) When any joint tenant, tenant in common, or coparcener in any real estate, or any interest therein, shall take, use, or have the profits and benefits thereof in greater proportion than his or her interest therein, that person, or his or her executor or administrator, shall ac…

(a) A person trespassing as follows shall pay a person injured treble the value of a thing damaged, broken, destroyed, or carried away, with costs, if the person shall:(1) Cut down, injure, destroy, or carry away any tree placed or growing for use or shade or any timber, rails, o…

(a) If any person shall set on fire any grass or other combustible material within his or her enclosures so as to damage any other person, that person shall make satisfaction in single damages to the party injured, to be recovered by civil action in any court having jurisdiction …

If any person shall voluntarily throw down or open any doors, bars, gates, or fences and leave them down or open, other than those that lead into his or her own enclosure, he or she shall pay the party injured the sum of five dollars ($5.00) for each offense and double the amount…

(a) In all cases in which fences, buildings, or other improvements that may be moved have been erroneously placed or erected on lands adjoining land on which the fences, buildings, or other improvements were intended to be erected, the owner of the fences, buildings, or other imp…

(a) The sale of land of infants or individuals with mental illness shall not be deemed to be prohibited as being in contravention of the deed, will, or contract under which they hold unless a sale is expressly forbidden by the deed, will, or contract. (b) When the legal title of …

(a) No cause of action shall arise against the owner, tenant, or lessee of land or premises for injuries to any person who is on that land or premises for the purpose of gleaning agricultural or farm products, unless that person's injuries were caused by the gross negligence or w…

(a) (1) An owner, lessee, or occupant of land does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser on the land and is not liable for any injury to a trespasser on the land.(2) No cause of action shall arise against the owner, lessee, or occupant of land until the presence of the trespasse…

The action of ejectment may be maintained in all cases in which the plaintiff is legally entitled to the possession of the premises.

(a) The action of ejectment may be maintained in all cases in which the plaintiff claims the possession of the premises under or by virtue of:(1) An entry made with the register and receiver of the proper land office of the United States;(2) A preemption right under the laws of t…

(a) The action of ejectment may be maintained in all cases when the plaintiff claims the possession of the premises under or by virtue of an entry made with the proper swampland agent or land agent of the proper land office of the State of Arkansas. (b) The patent certificates gr…

(a) The action of ejectment shall be brought and prosecuted in the real names of the parties thereunto. (b) The action may be brought against the person in possession of the premises claimed or his or her lessor, or both. (c) The person from or through whom the defendant claims t…

(a) (1) In all actions for the recovery of lands, except in actions of forcible entry and unlawful detainer, the plaintiff shall set forth in his or her complaint all deeds and other written evidences of title on which he or she relies for the maintenance of his or her suit.(2) T…

(a) To entitle the plaintiff to recover, it shall be sufficient for him or her to show that, at the time of the commencement of the action, the defendant was in possession of the premises claimed and that the plaintiff had title thereto or had the right to the possession thereof …

(a) In all cases in which no other provision is made, the judgment, if for the plaintiff, shall be for the recovery of the possession of the premises and the damages and costs. (b) If judgment should be rendered against the defendant, the judgment shall be for the recovery of the…

When the judgment for the plaintiff is both for the recovery of the possession of the premises and for the damages, the plaintiff may have a writ of possession. The writ shall command the officer to whom it may be directed to deliver to the plaintiff possession of the premises an…

(a) If the plaintiff prevails in the action, he or she shall recover by way of damages the rents and profits down to the time of assessing them. (b) When the plaintiff or those under whom he or she claims title may have entered in any land office of the United States within this …

When the judgment for the plaintiff is only for damages and costs, execution may be issued thereon as on judgments in personal actions.

If the right of the plaintiff to the possession of the premises expires after the commencement of the action and before the trial, the verdict shall be returned according to the facts and judgment shall be entered only for the damages and costs.

(a) No action for the recovery of any lands or for the possession thereof against any person, or his or her heirs or assigns, who may hold such lands by virtue of a purchase thereof at a sale by the collector or Commissioner of State Lands, for the nonpayment of taxes, or who may…

(a) If any person believing himself or herself to be the owner, either in law or equity, under color of title has peaceably improved, or shall peaceably improve, any land which upon judicial investigation shall be decided to belong to another, the value of the improvement made as…

(a) (1) If any person believing himself or herself to be the owner, either in law or equity, under a clerk's tax deed or a Commissioner of State Lands' forfeited land deed, containing a valid and proper description constituting color of title, has, or shall, peaceably improve any…

(a) Acts 1875, No. 85 [repealed], as amended by Acts 1875 (Adj. Sess.) No. 56; Acts 1891, No. 8 [repealed] and Acts 1947, No. 373 [repealed], which declare and describe the cause of action for forcible entry and detainer and unlawful detainer and prescribe the procedure for carry…

No person shall enter into or upon any lands, tenements, or other possessions and detain or hold them except when an entry is given by law, and then only in a peaceable manner.

(1) A person shall be guilty of a forcible entry and detainer within the meaning of this subchapter if the person shall:(1) Enter into or upon any lands, tenements, or other possessions and detain or hold them without right or claim to title;(2) Enter by breaking open the doors a…

(1) A person shall be guilty of an unlawful detainer within the meaning of this subchapter if the person shall, willfully and without right:(1) Hold over any land, tenement, or possession after the determination of the time for which it was demised or let to him or her, or the pe…

Sections 18-60-303 and 18-60-304 shall extend to and comprehend all estates, whether freehold or less than freehold.

(a) Forcible entries and detainers and unlawful detainers are cognizable before the:(1) Circuit court of any county in which the offenses may be committed; and(2) District court with jurisdiction concurrent with the jurisdiction of the circuit court, if permitted by rule or order…

(a) When any person to whom any cause of action shall accrue under this subchapter shall file in the office of the clerk of the court a complaint signed by him or her, his or her agent or attorney, specifying the lands, tenements, or other possessions so forcibly entered and deta…

In trials under the provisions of this subchapter, the title to the premises in question shall not be adjudicated upon or given in evidence, except to show the right to the possession and the extent thereof.

(a) If upon the trial of any action brought under this subchapter the finding or verdict is for the plaintiff, the court or jury trying it shall assess the amount to be recovered by the plaintiff for the rent due and agreed upon at the time of the commencement of the action and u…

(a) Upon receipt of a writ of possession from the clerk of the court, the sheriff shall immediately proceed to execute the writ in the specific manner described in this section and, if necessary, ultimately by ejecting from the property described in the writ the defendant or defe…

(a) In all cases of forcible entry and detainer and unlawful detainer, when the defendant disputes the plaintiff's right of possession, it shall be lawful for the defendant to introduce before the court or the jury trying the main issue in the action evidence showing the damage h…

(a) Neither the judgment to be rendered by the court in matters brought pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter nor anything in this subchapter shall bar or preclude the party injured from bringing any cause of action for trespass or ejectment, or any other action, against …

(a) Under this subchapter, any persons having any interest in and desiring a division of land held in joint tenancy, in common, as assigned or unassigned dower, as assigned or unassigned curtesy, or in coparceny, absolutely or subject to the life estate of another, or otherwise, …

A.C.A. § 18-60-402Current 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) Every person having an interest as is specified in § 18-60-401, whether in possession or otherwise, and every person entitled to dower or curtesy in the premises, if it has not been admeasured, shall be made a party to the petition. (b) In cases in which one (1) or more of th…

A.C.A. § 18-60-404Current 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 statutory guardian of an infant or of an individual with mental illness may file or unite in the petition in the names of, and in conjunction with, the infant or person of unsound mind. (b) (1) If the petition is filed against infants or individuals with mental illness, t…

(a) It shall be lawful for the circuit court of the proper county, for any of the purposes intended by § 18-60-401, and before or after any proceedings by virtue thereof, to appoint a guardian for any minor, whether the minor resides in or out of this state. The guardian, for all…

Parties interested may be constructively summoned as provided by Rule 4 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure.

Any person having an interest in the premises sought to be divided or sold, whether the interest is present or future, vested or contingent, though not made a party in the petition may appear and, on showing his or her interest by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court, be ma…

Upon a petition by all interested in the property being filed, or upon a summons being served upon all who have an interest in the property, and who have not united in the petition ten (10) days before commencement of the term, the court may make an order for the division accordi…

If any person summoned, as provided in §§ 18-60-401, 18-60-405, and 18-60-409, desires to contest the rights of the petitioners or the statements in the petition, he or she shall do so by a written answer, and the questions of law and fact thereupon arising shall be tried and det…

If any of the parties duly notified by personal service or publication shall not appear and plead within the time allowed by the court for that purpose, the default shall be entered. The petitioners shall, nevertheless, make out their case by the exhibition to the court of the ev…

(a) The court shall ascertain, from the evidence in case of default or from the confession by answer of the parties, if they appear, and shall declare the rights, titles, and interests of all the parties to the proceedings, petitioners as well as defendants, so far as they shall …

No partition or sale of land, tenements, or hereditaments devised by any last will and testament shall be made, under the provisions of this act, contrary to the intention of any testator as expressed in his or her last will and testament.

(a) (1) Whenever any judgment of partition shall be rendered, the court may, by rule or order, appoint not fewer than three (3) nor more than five (5) commissioners who are residents of the county in which the premises to be divided is situated to make the partition so adjudged, …

(a) (1) The commissioners shall immediately proceed to make partition, according to the judgment of the court, unless it shall appear to them, or a majority of them, that partition of the premises cannot be made without great prejudice to the owners.(2) In such a case they shall …

(a) Upon a report of the divisions by the commissioners appointed for that purpose being returned, the court may confirm or set aside the report or remand it to the commissioners for correction. (b) Upon good cause shown by either party, on the report being made and returned to t…