Title 16 — Practice, Procedure, And Courts

(a) No person shall be subject to a fine or other penalty for the offense of overtime parking incurred while the person is engaged in actual service as a grand or petit juror in any court, federal or state, in this state. (b) The person may evidence the fact of jury service by ex…

(a) (1) Any person who is summoned to serve on jury duty shall not be subject to discharge from employment, loss of sick leave, loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty as a result of his or her absence from employment due to jury duty, upon giving reasonable notice to…

No verdict or indictment shall be void or voidable because any juror shall fail to possess any of the qualifications required in this act unless a juror shall knowingly answer falsely any question on voir dire relating to his qualifications propounded by the court or counsel in a…

(a) (1) (A) The state, through the Administrative Office of the Courts, shall provide and pay the cost of reasonable accommodations for the Deaf, deaf, Hard of Hearing, and visually impaired when necessary to enable a person with those disabilities to act as a venireperson or jur…

No person shall be summoned to serve as a grand or petit juror who has not been selected under the provisions of this act unless this requirement is waived by the parties.

A.C.A. § 16-32-102Current 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) During the month of November or December of each year, the prospective jurors for the following calendar year shall be selected from among the current list of registered voters of the applicable district or county in the following manner:(1) The circuit judge, in the presence…

(a) (1) The names and last known addresses of the persons selected shall be placed, in the presence of the circuit judge and the circuit clerk, in a circular hollow wheel or a large box constructed of sturdy and durable material. In place of names and addresses, the court may cau…

(a) (1) After the names have been placed in the wheel or box and not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the first jury trial in the year for which the prospective jurors have been selected, the circuit judge shall enter an order which shall be spread of record stating a time an…

(a) The persons whose names have been selected under § 16-32-105 shall be summoned to appear on a date set by the court to answer questions concerning their qualifications and unless excused or disqualified, to serve the required number of days or for the maximum period during th…

(a) Whenever it shall appear that the names of more jurors have been drawn and listed in the jury book than are needed for jury service at the current or at any subsequent session of the court, the judge, if the jurors are present in court, shall designate the number of jurors re…

(a) (1) If at any time it appears that a sufficient number of qualified jurors are not available to try scheduled cases, additional names may be drawn and recorded in the jury book in open court or randomly selected by computer program described in § 16-32-103. These jurors shall…

(a) (1) A challenge to the use of the names selected by the circuit clerk and placed in the jury wheel or box for the drawing of trial panels from the jury wheel or box may be made only by a litigant in a particular case.(2) (A) If the trial judge sustains the challenge to the us…

Beginning January 1, 1998, and thereafter, during every step in the procedure for the selection of grand jurors and petit jurors, electronic devices or mechanical devices shall be utilized to assure the random selection of all jury panels.

(a) As used in this section, “juror information” means:(1) An original or a copy of a list of potential jurors;(2) A list of potential jurors who were sworn and qualified;(3) Any response to a juror questionnaire; and(4) A list of an individual venire panel. (1) An original or a …

(a) (1) The selecting, summoning, and impaneling of a grand jury shall be as prescribed by law.(2) (A) Circuit courts to which criminal cases are assigned may call grand jurors from the jury wheel or box from which petit jurors are drawn, or the circuit judge may direct the circu…

(a) The jurors for the trial of criminal prosecutions shall be selected and summoned as provided by law. (b) (1) Juries shall be composed of twelve (12) jurors.(2) However, cases other than felonies may be tried by a jury of fewer than twelve (12) jurors by agreement of the parti…

(1) The jury, for the trial of all prosecutions for misdemeanors, shall be selected in the following manner:(1) Each party shall have three (3) peremptory challenges, which may be made orally; and(2) (A) The court shall cause the names of twenty-four (24) competent jurors, writte…

(a) The pool of names from which prospective jurors are chosen may be expanded from the list of registered voters to include the list of licensed drivers and persons issued an identification card under § 27-16-805. (b) The qualifications for serving on a jury under § 16-31-101 an…

(a) (1) In order to allow for the use of the enhanced prospective juror pool, the Secretary of State shall compile and make available no later than November 1 of each year, and at other times determined by the Secretary of State, an enhanced list of prospective jurors in automate…

(a) The administrative circuit judge for each county shall determine that either the list of registered voters or the enhanced list, but not both, shall be utilized in the selection of all prospective jurors for all circuit court divisions within the county, based upon a consider…

This subchapter shall not affect the list of disqualifications from jury service found in § 16-31-102.

(a) In all cases, both civil and criminal, the court shall examine all prospective jurors under oath upon all matters set forth in the statutes as disqualifications. (b) Further questions may be asked by the court or by the attorneys in the case, in the discretion of the court. (…

A challenge to the array shall be decided by the court.

(a) A challenge for cause shall be decided by the court, and, in order to determine the challenge, the particular juror challenged may be sworn, or, at the instance of either party, all of the jurors may be sworn to make true and perfect answers to such questions as may be demand…

(a) Each party shall have three (3) peremptory challenges, which may be made orally. (b) (1) However, if either party desires a panel, the court shall cause the names of twenty-four (24) competent jurors, written upon separate slips of paper, to be placed in a box to be kept for …

(a) Every person held to answer a criminal charge may object to the competency of anyone summoned to serve as a grand juror, before he is sworn, on the ground that he is the prosecutor or complainant upon any charge against the person or that he is a witness on the part of the pr…

(1) A challenge is an objection to the trial jurors and is of two (2) kinds:(1) To the panel;(2) To the individual juror. (1) To the panel; (2) To the individual juror.

(a) The challenge to the individual juror is:(1) For cause;(2) Peremptory. (1) For cause; (2) Peremptory. (b) The challenge must be taken before he is sworn in chief, but the court, for a good cause, may permit it to be made at any time before the jury is completed. (c) The chall…

(a) The challenge for cause may be taken either by the state or by the defendant. (b) It may be general, that the juror is disqualified in serving in any case, or particular, that he is disqualified from serving in the case on trial.(1) Causes of general challenge are:(A) A want …

(a) The state shall be entitled to ten (10) peremptory challenges in prosecutions for capital murder, § 5-10-101, treason, § 5-51-201, or capital rape, § 5-14-114, to six (6) peremptory challenges in prosecutions for all other felonies, and to three (3) peremptory challenges in p…

(1) The challenges of either party need not be all taken together, but may be taken separately, in the following order:(1) To the panel;(2) To the individual juror for general disqualification;(3) To the individual juror for implied bias;(4) To the individual juror for actual bia…

When several defendants are tried together, the challenge of any one (1) of the defendants shall be the challenge of all.

(a) Challenges shall be tried and determined by the court in a summary manner, without the issues of law or of fact arising thereon being reduced to writing. (b) The juror himself may be examined on oath by either party upon challenge. (c) Other witnesses may also be examined and…

(a) Any person who receives official notice that he or she has been selected as a prospective juror or who is chosen as a juror is eligible to receive per diem compensation for service if:(1) The person actually appears at the location to which the juror or prospective juror was …

In the event and to the extent that a county quorum court adopts by ordinance a policy for reimbursement of mileage costs for jurors, any person who is eligible to receive per diem compensation under § 16-34-103 and whose primary place of residence is outside the city limits of t…

A.C.A. § 16-34-105Current 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 per diem compensation under § 16-34-103 shall be paid promptly to each juror or prospective juror by a county from funds appropriated for that purpose by the quorum court. (b) (1) (A) The state shall reimburse a county for a portion of the costs incurred for a payment und…

(a) A person eligible to receive per diem compensation or mileage reimbursement, or both, under this chapter may donate the per diem compensation or mileage reimbursement, or both, that he or she receives to an eligible nonprofit entity. (b) (1) (A) The Administrative Office of t…

(a) The party holding the affirmative of an issue must produce the evidence to prove it. (b) The burden of proof in the whole action lies on the party who would be defeated if no evidence were given on either side.

The order of proof shall be regulated by the court so as to expedite the trial and enable the tribunal to obtain a clear view of the whole evidence. However, the party who begins the case must ordinarily exhaust his evidence before the other begins.

(a) The testimony of witnesses is taken in three (3) modes:(1) By affidavit;(2) By deposition;(3) By oral examination. (1) By affidavit; (2) By deposition; (3) By oral examination. (b) An affidavit is a written declaration under oath, made without notice to the adverse party. (c)…

The courts of this state shall take judicial knowledge of the laws of other states.

Any person absenting himself beyond the limits of this state for five (5) years successively shall be presumed to be dead in any case in which his death may come into question, unless proof is made that he was alive within that time.

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Approved training” means training including, at a minimum, the following subjects:(A) The core elements of critical incident stress management, including how to help a person understand the need for further assistance;(B) Psychological crisis and …

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Religious leader or member of the clergy” includes without limitation a:(A) Minister;(B) Pastor;(C) Preacher;(D) Priest;(E) Nun;(F) Rabbi;(G) Imam; or(H) Layperson who is engaged in the ministering in, instruction of, or teaching of a religion; an…

A.C.A. § 16-41-101Current 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) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “sexual conduct” means deviate sexual activity, sexual contact, or sexual intercourse, as those terms are defined by § 5-14-101. (b) In a criminal prosecution under § 5-14-101 et seq., except for a misdemeanor vi…

In any prosecution for a sexual offense or inchoate offense to a sexual offense, upon motion of the prosecuting attorney and after notice to opposing counsel, the court may, for good cause shown, allow the presence of the parent, stepparent, guardian, custodian, or other person w…

(a) In a criminal case where the defendant is accused of a sexual assault, evidence of the defendant's commission of another sexual assault is admissible and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant, subject to the circuit court's consideration of t…