Title 16 — Practice, Procedure, And Courts

(a) (1) In any case in which punitive damages are sought, any party may request a bifurcated proceeding at least ten (10) days prior to trial.(2) If a bifurcated proceeding has been requested by either party, then:(A) The finder of fact first shall determine whether compensatory …

(a) Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), 16-114-209, and 16-114-210 — 16-114-212 do not limit compensatory damages. (b) Any evidence of damages for the costs of any necessary medical care, treatment, or services received shall include o…

A.C.A. § 16-55-213Current 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) Appeal bonds shall be determined under § 16-68-301 et seq., and Arkansas Rules of Appellate Procedure — Civil, Rule 8, except that the maximum appeal bond that may be required in any civil action under any legal theory shall be limited to twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,…

Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), 16-114-209, and 16-114-210 — 16-114-212 do not amend the existing law that provides that the burden of alleging and proving fault is upon the person who seeks to establish fault.

Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-114-209 — 16-114-212 do not amend existing law that provides that a plaintiff may not recover any amount of damages if the plaintiff's own fault is determined to be fifty percent (50%) or grea…

(a) Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-114-209 — 16-114-212 do not create a cause of action. (b) Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-14-209 — 16-114-212 do not alter the defen…

No provision of § 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-114-209 — 16-114-212 shall apply to or alter existing law with respect to any claim, charge, action, or suit brought or prosecuted by the Attorney General.

Nothing in § 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-114-209 — 16-114-212 shall be construed to diminish or enlarge the powers or duties of a coroner or medical examiner.

(a) Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-114-209 — 16-114-212 shall apply to all causes of action accruing on or after March 25, 2003. (b) Section 16-55-201 et seq. and §§ 16-114-206(a), 16-114-208(a), 16-114-208(c)(1), and 16-11…

A.C.A. § 16-56-101Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

The provisions of this act shall be deemed and taken to apply to the case of any demand alleged by way of setoff on the part of any defendant, either by plea, notice, or otherwise. However, any demand, right, or cause of action, regardless of how it may have arisen, may be assert…

(a) The provisions of this act shall not extend to any action which is or shall be otherwise limited by any statute, but the action shall be brought within the time limited by the statute. (b) None of the provisions of this act shall apply to suits brought to enforce payment on b…

(1) The following actions shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action shall accrue and not thereafter:(1) All special actions on the case;(2) Actions for:(A) Assault and battery; and(B) False imprisonment;(3) All actions for words spoken slandering the charac…

(1) The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues:(1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of …

(a) No action shall be brought to recover charges for medical services performed or provided prior to April 1, 1985, by a physician or other medical service provider after the expiration of a period of eighteen (18) months from the date the services were performed or provided. (b…

(a) No action to enforce a security interest in livestock shall be brought against a livestock auction market or selling agent who, in the ordinary course of business, sells the livestock for another person in a public auction, more than eighteen (18) months after the date of the…

All actions on penal statutes where the penalty, or any part thereof, goes to the state, or to any county or person suing for the same, shall be commenced within two (2) years after the offense has been committed or the cause of action has accrued.

(a) All actions against sheriffs and coroners upon any liability incurred by them by doing any act in their official capacity or by the omission of any official duty, except for escapes, shall be brought within two (2) years after the cause of action has accrued and not thereafte…

(a) Actions on the official bonds of sheriffs and coroners shall be commenced within four (4) years after the cause of action shall accrue, and not afterward. (b) A certified copy of the bond shall be evidence in all suits brought on the bond. (c) No suit shall be brought on any …

(a) Actions to enforce written obligations, duties, or rights, except those to which § 4-4-111 is applicable, shall be commenced within five (5) years after the cause of action shall accrue. (b) However, partial payment or written acknowledgment of default shall toll this statute…

(a) No action in contract, whether oral or written, sealed or unsealed, to recover damages caused by any deficiency in the design, planning, supervision, or observation of construction or the construction and repair of any improvement to real property or for injury to real or per…

Actions on the bonds of executors and administrators shall be commenced within eight (8) years after the cause of action shall accrue, and not afterward.

Actions on all judgments and decrees shall be commenced within ten (10) years after cause of action shall accrue, and not afterward.

All actions not included in §§ 16-56-104, 16-56-105, 16-56-108, and 16-56-109 shall be commenced within five (5) years after the cause of action has accrued.

(a) If any person entitled to bring any action under any law of this state is under twenty-one (21) years of age or insane at the time of the accrual of the cause of action, that person may bring the action within three (3) years next after attaining full age, or within three (3)…

(a) If any person entitled to bring any action specified in this act dies before the expiration of the time limited for the commencement of the suit, and if the cause of action survives to his or her representatives, then his or her executors or administrators may commence the su…

(a) The statutes of limitations in this state are suspended so far as those statutes affect the claim or cause of action of a person in the United States Armed Forces during the existence of a state of war between the United States and any other nation, and for six (6) months the…

Whenever the commencement of any suit is stayed by an injunction of any court of equity, the time during which the injunction shall be in force shall not be deemed any portion of the time in this act limited for the commencement of the suit.

If any person, by leaving the county, absconding, or concealing himself, or by any other improper act of his own, prevents the commencement of any action specified in this act, the action may be commenced within the times respectively limited after the commencement of the action …

If any debtor shall fraudulently abscond from any other state, territory, or district to this state without the knowledge of his, her, or their creditor, the creditor may commence suit against the absconding debtor within the times in this act, or any other acts of limitations, i…

No verbal promise or acknowledgment in any action founded on a simple contract shall be deemed sufficient evidence to take any case out of the operation of this act or to deprive the party of the benefits thereof.

No endorsement of any payment written upon any bond or any other sealed instrument by or on behalf of the party to whom the payment shall be made shall be deemed a sufficient proof of the payment so as to take the case out of the operation of this act.

When there are two (2) or more joint contractors or executors, no joint contractor or executor shall lose the benefit of this act by reason of any written acknowledgment or promise made and signed by any of the other joint contractors or executors. Nothing contained in this secti…

(a) For the purposes of tolling the statute of limitations, any person, firm, or corporation may file a complaint stating his or her cause of action in the appropriate court of this state, whenever the identity of the tortfeasor is unknown. (b) (1) The name of the unknown tortfea…

(a) (1) If any action is commenced within the time respectively prescribed in this act, in §§ 16-116-101 — 16-116-107, in §§ 16-114-201 — 16-114-209, or in any other act, and the plaintiff therein suffers a nonsuit, or after a verdict for him or her the judgment is arrested, or a…

In actions brought to recover any balance due upon a mutual open account current, the cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account.

There shall be no greater statute of limitations defense available to a borrower who has defaulted on a loan guaranteed by the Student Loan Guarantee Foundation of Arkansas than would be available had the borrower defaulted on an obligation to the State of Arkansas.

A.C.A. § 16-56-129Current 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) Notwithstanding any other statute of limitations or any other provision of law that can be construed to reduce the statutory period set forth in this section, any civil action based on sexual abuse which occurred when the injured person was a minor but is not discovered until…

(a) No action shall be entered upon the docket of any court nor any original mesne or final process issued in the action, except in criminal cases and cases where the state is plaintiff, until the fees for entering the case upon the docket and for issuing the writ and the taxes t…

All writs and process issued by any judge, justice of the peace, or other officer authorized to issue the writ or process shall run in the name of the State of Arkansas and be signed by the officer issuing the writ or process.

A.C.A. § 16-58-103Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

When any writ or other process issued out of any court of this state is not executed, the clerk of the court shall issue an alias, pluries, or other proper process without an order of the court for that purpose on the application of the party suing out the writ or other process.

All writs shall be sealed with the judicial seal of the court.

(a) It shall be no objection to any process, writ, summons, affidavit, or order for a provisional remedy that it was issued, made, or is dated on a holiday nor shall it be an objection to any bond given by or for any party to an action or taken by an officer in the course of the …

A.C.A. § 16-58-107Current 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. § 16-58-108Current 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. § 16-58-109Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

It shall be the duty of the sheriff or one (1) of his or her deputies to attend at the clerk's office daily, Sundays excepted, to receive any process that may be issued, and the clerk shall deliver to him or her any process remaining in his or her office.