Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 16 - PRACTICE, PROCEDURE, AND COURTS (§§ 16-1-101 — 16-131-206) › Subtitle 6 - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE GENERALLY (§§ 16-80-101 — 16-102-102) › Chapter 81 - ARREST (§§ 16-81-101 — 16-81-407) › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 16-81-101 — 16-81-118) › Section 16-81-106 - Authority to arrest - Definition

(a)
An arrest may be made by a certified law enforcement officer or by a private person.
(b)
A certified law enforcement officer may make an arrest:
(1)
In obedience to a warrant of arrest delivered to him or her; and
(2)
(A)
Without a warrant, where a public offense is committed in his or her presence or where he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the person arrested has committed a felony.
(B)
In addition to any other warrantless arrest authority granted by law or court rule, a certified law enforcement officer may arrest a person for a misdemeanor without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed battery upon another person, the officer finds evidence of bodily harm, and the officer reasonably believes that there is danger of violence unless the person alleged to have committed the battery is arrested without delay.
(c)
(1)
A certified law enforcement officer who is outside his or her jurisdiction may arrest without warrant a person who commits an offense within the officer's presence or view if the offense is a felony or a misdemeanor.
(2)
(A)
A certified law enforcement officer making an arrest under subdivision (c)(1) of this section shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the arrest was made as soon as practicable after making the arrest.
(B)
The law enforcement agency shall then take custody of the person committing the offense and take the person before a judge or magistrate.
(3)
Statewide arrest powers for a certified law enforcement officer will be in effect only when the certified law enforcement officer is working:
(A)
Outside his or her jurisdiction at the request of or with the permission of the municipal or county law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in the locale where the certified law enforcement officer is assisting or working by request; or
(B)
(i)
As part of a child abduction response team.
(ii)
As used in subdivision (c)(3)(B)(i) of this section, "child abduction response team" means a multiagency or multi-jurisdictional composite of community professionals who are trained and equipped to respond in the search and recovery of an abducted or endangered child.
(4)
Any law enforcement agency exercising statewide arrest powers under this section must have a written policy on file regulating the actions of its employees relevant to law enforcement activities outside its jurisdiction.
(d)
A private person may make an arrest where he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the person arrested has committed a felony.
(e)
A magistrate or any judge may orally order a certified law enforcement officer or private person to arrest anyone committing a public offense in the magistrate's or judge's presence, which order shall authorize the arrest.
(f)
As used in this section, "certified law enforcement officer" includes a full-time game warden of the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission so long as the game warden shall not exercise his or her authority to the extent that any federal funds would be jeopardized.
(g)
(1)
The following persons employed as full-time law enforcement officers by the federal, state, county, or municipal government who are empowered to effect an arrest with or without warrant for violations of the United States Code and who are authorized to carry firearms in the performance of their duties shall be empowered to act as officers for the arrest of offenders against the laws of this state and shall enjoy the same immunity, if any, to the same extent and under the same circumstances as certified state law enforcement officers:
(A)
Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents;
(B)
United States Secret Service special agents;
(C)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services special agents, investigators, and patrol officers;
(D)
United States Marshals Service deputies;
(E)
United States Drug Enforcement Administration special agents;
(F)
United States Postal Service postal inspectors and special agents;
(G)
United States Customs and Border Protection special agents, inspectors, and patrol officers;
(H)
United States General Services Administration special agents;
(I)
United States Department of Agriculture special agents;
(J)
United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives special agents;
(K)
Internal Revenue Service special agents and inspectors;
(L)
Certified law enforcement officers of the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
(M)
Members of federal, state, county, municipal, and prosecuting attorneys' drug task forces;
(N)
Certified law enforcement officers of the United States Forest Service; and
(O)
United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration special agents.
(2)
If an agency described in subdivision (g)(1) of this section changes its name, the law enforcement officers described in subdivision (g)(1) of this section that are employed by the agency remain empowered to act as officers for the arrest of offenders against the laws of this state and retain the same immunity, if any, to the same extent and under the same circumstances as certified state law enforcement officers.
(h)
Pursuant to Article 2.124 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, any certified law enforcement officer of the State of Arkansas or law enforcement officer specified in subsection (g) of this section shall be authorized to act as a law enforcement officer in the State of Texas with the same power, duties, and immunities of a peace officer of the State of Texas who is acting in the discharge of an official duty:
(1)
During a time in which:
(A)
(i)
The law enforcement officer from the State of Arkansas is transporting an inmate or criminal defendant from a county in Arkansas that is on the border of Texas to a hospital or other medical facility in a county in Texas that is on the border between the two (2) states.
(ii)
Transportation to such a facility shall be for purposes including, but not limited to, evidentiary testing of that inmate or defendant as is authorized pursuant to laws of the State of Arkansas or for medical treatment; or
(B)
The law enforcement officer from the State of Arkansas is returning the inmate or defendant from the hospital or facility in Texas to an adjoining county in Arkansas; and
(2)
To the extent necessary to:
(A)
Maintain custody of the inmate or defendant while transporting the inmate or defendant; or
(B)
Retain custody of the inmate or defendant if the inmate or defendant escapes while being transported.
(i)
A certified law enforcement officer trained pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between the State of Arkansas and the United States Department of Justice or the United States Department of Homeland Security is authorized to make an arrest in order to enforce federal immigration laws.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 852,§ 5, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 913,§ 2, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 946,§ 1, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 423,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013.
Crim. Code, §§ 32-35; C. & M. Dig., §§ 2903-2906; Pope's Dig., §§ 3719-3722; Acts 1983, No. 848, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 43-402 -- 43-405; Acts 1987, No. 496, § 1; 1988 (3rd Ex. Sess.), No. 32, § 1; 1989, No. 715, § 1; 1989, No. 846, § 1; 1993, No. 362, § 1; 1993, No. 436, § 1; 1995, No. 719, § 1; 2005, No. 26, § 1; 2005, No. 907, § 4; 2005, No. 1994, § 267; 2009, No. 158, § 1.