Quick Reference: Three Statutory Routes

A property manager in Arkansas has a tenant who stopped paying rent in June. A colleague suggests serving a ten-day notice and asking law enforcement or the prosecuting attorney to pursue the criminal route. It sounds faster, but it depends on law enforcement or prosecutorial action and does not deliver possession.

It also does not get the unit back.

Section 18-16-101 provides a fine. It does not provide a writ of possession. Read the section end to end and there is no mechanism in it to remove anyone. It says a non-paying tenant forfeits the right to occupy, it makes willful refusal to vacate after ten days' notice a misdemeanor, and it sets a penalty. That is the whole of it.

And Arkansas has three statutory eviction routes, not two. Alongside the criminal statute sit two civil procedures, each with its own timing and its own writ:

• Unlawful detainer, at Sections 18-60-301 to 18-60-312, with a three-day notice to quit and written demand for nonpayment; and

• The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act eviction proceeding, at Sections 18-17-901 to 18-17-913, where for residential agreements nonpayment within five days of the due date is itself legal notice that the landlord may begin proceedings.

Three routes, three different nonpayment timings: three days, five days, ten days. They are not interchangeable, and a notice built for one does not serve another.

Arkansas is widely described as the only state that attaches criminal liability to a tenant's failure to vacate after nonpayment. For a property manager, the more useful distinction is this: the criminal statute creates a penalty; the two civil procedures are the court-based mechanisms for recovering possession.

This guide covers what each route actually says, why the timings differ, and the constitutional history behind the criminal statute.

What Section 18-16-101 Actually Says

Section 18-16-101 is short. Read in full, it has two subsections.

Subsection (a): forfeiture on nonpayment. Any person who rents a dwelling house, other building or land in Arkansas and who refuses or fails to pay the rent when due according to contract "shall at once forfeit all right to longer occupy" the premises.

Note how immediate that is. There is no grace period in the subsection itself and no notice requirement attached to the forfeiture. The forfeiture is automatic on nonpayment.

Subsection (b)(1): the misdemeanor. If, after ten days' notice in writing given by the landlord or the landlord's agent or attorney to vacate, the tenant willfully refuses to vacate and surrender possession, the tenant is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Three elements have to be present: the ten-day written notice, a refusal, and that the refusal be willful.

Subsection (b)(2): the penalty, and how it multiplies.

• (A) On conviction before any justice of the peace or other court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the premises are situated, the tenant shall be fined in any sum not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each offense.

• (B) Each day the tenant willfully and unnecessarily holds over after the expiration of the notice to vacate constitutes a separate offense.

And that is the entire section. There is no provision authorising a court to order removal, no writ, no sheriff, no execution. A conviction produces a fine. It does not produce possession.

Two points on the penalty worth checking against any summary you are using.

The fine is a range, not a flat daily rate. Several summaries describe a flat $25 per day. The current text sets a range of $1.00 to $25.00 for each offense, with each day constituting a separate offense. The multiplication comes from subsection (b)(2)(B), not from the amount.

There is no court-registry payment requirement in the current text. The current Section 18-16-101 ends at subsection (b)(2)(B). Some published summaries describe a requirement that a tenant contesting the charge pay rent into the registry of the court. No such provision appears in the current section, whose history records amendments at Acts 2001, No. 1733 and 2017, No. 159. Managers should not rely on summaries describing procedures that are not in the section as it now stands.

What the Civil Unlawful Detainer Statute Says

Section 18-60-304 sets out the grounds, and it is considerably broader than the criminal route. A person is guilty of an unlawful detainer if the person, willfully and without right:

• (1) Holds over any land, tenement or possession after the determination of the time for which it was demised or let to them, or to the person under whom they claim;

• (2) Peaceably and lawfully obtains possession and then holds it willfully and unlawfully after written demand for delivery or surrender of possession by the person having the right to possession or their agent or attorney;

• (3) Fails or refuses to pay the rent when due, and after three days' notice to quit and demand made in writing for possession by the person entitled to it or their agent or attorney, refuses to quit possession;

• (4) Fails to maintain the premises in a safe, healthy, or habitable condition; or

• (5) Causes or permits the premises to become a common nuisance subject to abatement under Section 14-54-1501 et seq., the Arkansas Drug Abatement Act of 1989, or any other law of the state, or a public or common nuisance under Section 14-54-1701 et seq. as determined by a criminal nuisance abatement board.

Note what ground (1) does not require. Holding over after the lease term ends is its own ground. There is no notice period written into paragraph (1) - the trigger is the determination of the term.

And read ground (4) carefully. Section 18-60-304(4) identifies the occupant's failure to maintain the premises in a safe, healthy or habitable condition as a form of unlawful detainer. It is not about the landlord's repair obligations, which sit elsewhere in the Code and are a separate legal question.

The three days is for nonpayment specifically. Paragraph (3) requires both a three-day notice to quit and a written demand for possession before the refusal becomes an unlawful detainer. Those are two components of one step, and both need to be in the document.

The Third Route: The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act Procedure

This is the route most likely to be missed, and for a residential portfolio it is often the relevant one.

Section 18-17-901 sets the grounds. Under subsection (a), a landlord or the landlord's agent may commence eviction proceedings against a tenant in a district court having jurisdiction when:

• (1) The tenant fails or refuses to pay the rent when due or when demanded;

• (2) The term of tenancy or occupancy has ended; or

• (3) The terms or conditions of the rental agreement have been violated.

And subsection (b) supplies the residential timing. "For residential rental agreements, nonpayment of rent within five (5) days of the date due constitutes legal notice to the tenant that the landlord has the right to begin eviction proceedings under this chapter."

Read that closely. For a residential agreement, the five days is not a notice the landlord serves - the nonpayment itself constitutes the legal notice once five days have passed.

This route ends in a writ, and quickly. Under Section 18-17-907: "If the judgment is for the plaintiff, the district court shall within three (3) days issue a writ of eviction, and the tenant shall be evicted by the sheriff of the county."

The rest of the subchapter runs from Section 18-17-901 to Section 18-17-913 and covers the eviction proceeding itself (18-17-902), service of the order with posting and mailing requirements (18-17-903), ejection on failure to show cause (18-17-904), trial of the issue (18-17-905), judgment for the defendant (18-17-908), appeal (18-17-909), the bond required to stay eviction on appeal (18-17-910), accrual of rent after proceedings begin (18-17-911), commercial leases (18-17-912) and execution of the writ of possession (18-17-913).

Read Sections 18-17-902 through 18-17-905 before filing. The complaint requirements, the service and posting rules, and the show-cause procedure are set there, and they are where a filing gets derailed. Confirm the current text and local district court practice with Arkansas counsel.

The Rest of the Civil Subchapter

The unlawful detainer subchapter runs from Section 18-60-301 to Section 18-60-312, and its structure tells a manager where each question is answered:

• 18-60-301 - Legislative intent

• 18-60-302 - Improper entry prohibited

• 18-60-303 - Actions constituting forcible entry and detainer

• 18-60-304 - Actions constituting unlawful detainer

• 18-60-305 - Applicability to all estates

• 18-60-306 - Jurisdiction

• 18-60-307 - Proceedings in court

• 18-60-308 - Title to premises not adjudicated

• 18-60-309 - Judgment for plaintiff, assessment of damages, and writs of possession and restitution

• 18-60-310 - Execution of writ of possession

• 18-60-311 - Judgment for defendant

• 18-60-312 - Other causes of action not precluded

Two of those headings answer the question the criminal statute cannot. Section 18-60-309 provides for writs of possession and restitution, and Section 18-60-310 governs execution of the writ.

Section 18-60-302 is worth reading before any self-help is considered. Improper entry is prohibited, and the subchapter's own structure makes clear that possession is recovered through the court process rather than around it.

Read Sections 18-60-306 and 18-60-307 before filing. Jurisdiction and the court procedure, including the period a tenant has to object after service, are set there. Confirm the current text and your local practice with Arkansas counsel rather than working from a summary.

Keeping the rent ledger, the notice and the date it was served in one place is what makes a filing straightforward. RIOO's rent and payment tracking holds the arrears position, and the tenant portal gives a route to serve and record communications with dates attached.

Why the Timings Differ, and Why That Matters

A manager reading across the three routes sees three days, five days and ten days, and the temptation is to treat that as an inconsistency. It is not. They are three different statutes doing three different things.

• The three days in Section 18-60-304(3) is the notice that, combined with a written demand for possession, makes a refusal an unlawful detainer.

• The five days in Section 18-17-901(b) is the period after which, for a residential rental agreement, nonpayment itself constitutes legal notice that the landlord may begin an eviction proceeding under that chapter.

• The ten days in Section 18-16-101(b)(1) is the period after which willful refusal becomes a misdemeanor.

The practical consequence. A notice drafted for one route does not serve another. A ten-day criminal notice does not satisfy Section 18-60-304(3), and a three-day civil notice to quit and demand does not establish the ten-day period the criminal statute requires. Confirm which procedure the tenancy and the intended filing sit under before drafting anything.

Do not blend them in one document. A notice that threatens criminal prosecution while purporting to be a civil three-day demand invites an argument about which statute the landlord was actually proceeding under - and, given the constitutional position below, invites a further argument about the threat itself.

Because the notice is the document the whole action rests on, it belongs with the lease rather than in a template folder. Our guidance on lease management covers building the document set, and RIOO's contracts and renewals keeps the agreement and its notices together.

The Constitutional History of the Criminal Route

This is the part a property manager needs before deciding anything.

• The statute is old and it is still in the Code. Section 18-16-101's history runs back to Acts 1901, No. 122, and the current text carries amendments in 2001 and 2017. It has not been repealed.

• The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld it in 1989. In Duhon v. State, the court rejected a constitutional challenge to the failure-to-vacate statute, and also held that a defendant may raise civil defences in response to a charge.

• But later litigation has challenged it, and enforcement is not uniform. In 2015, circuit courts in several Arkansas counties declared the statute unconstitutional in litigation reported as State v. Artoria Smith, and further federal challenges have been brought since. No later statewide appellate decision found in this review has invalidated the statute, and it remains in the Code.

• Enforcement varies by county and prosecuting office. Some local authorities decline to pursue Section 18-16-101 cases, and in some counties landlords use the civil statutes as a matter of course.

• Repeal has been attempted and has not passed. Bills to repeal the statute have been introduced in the Arkansas General Assembly and failed in committee, and the statute has drawn sustained litigation and academic criticism.

• And the landlord does not control a criminal case. Section 18-16-101 creates a misdemeanor. A landlord does not prosecute it. Enforcement depends on a complaint to, and a decision by, law enforcement and the prosecuting attorney, and that decision is not the manager's to make.

• What that means operationally. A manager who asks authorities to pursue the criminal route is pursuing a path that produces no writ of possession, depends on a prosecutor's discretion, varies by county, and carries a contested constitutional history. The two civil procedures provide court-based mechanisms for recovering possession, including writ procedures after judgment.

• And there is a reputational dimension. Threatening criminal prosecution over a rent debt is a materially different act from filing a civil suit, and it will be characterised that way if the matter is ever examined.

What None of the Routes Does

Three absences shape Arkansas eviction practice.

• No route authorises self-help. Section 18-60-302 prohibits improper entry, and possession is recovered through the writ procedures at Sections 18-60-309 and 18-60-310, or at Sections 18-17-907 and 18-17-913.

• The criminal statute does not restore possession. It is worth repeating because it is the point on which the criminal and civil routes most clearly diverge. A conviction under Section 18-16-101 produces a fine.

• None of them is the whole of Arkansas landlord-tenant law. The minimum quality standards enacted by Act 1052 of 2021 and the deposit rules sit elsewhere in the Code and carry their own requirements and timelines.

Our guide to Arkansas security deposit laws covers the deposit rules that apply at the end of a tenancy, and our guide to Arkansas property manager licensing covers the AREC requirements that apply to anyone managing for an owner.

Common Eviction Mistakes Property Managers Make in Arkansas

1. Using the criminal statute to recover possession.
Section 18-16-101 provides a fine on conviction. It contains no writ, no execution and no removal mechanism.

2. Serving a ten-day notice and then filing an unlawful detainer.
Section 18-60-304(3) requires three days' notice to quit and a written demand for possession. The ten-day notice is the criminal statute's requirement.

2a. Treating Arkansas as having one civil eviction route.
There are two: unlawful detainer at Sections 18-60-301 to 18-60-312, and the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act proceeding at Sections 18-17-901 to 18-17-913, each with its own timing, court and writ.

3. Omitting the written demand for possession.
Paragraph (3) requires both the notice to quit and the demand. A notice that only demands rent does not complete the step.

4. Blending criminal and civil language in one notice.
It obscures which statute the landlord is proceeding under and invites argument about the threat of prosecution.

5. Quoting a flat $25 per day penalty.
Subsection (b)(2)(A) sets a range of $1.00 to $25.00 for each offense. Under (b)(2)(B), each day the tenant willfully and unnecessarily holds the premises after the notice expires constitutes a separate offense.

6. Relying on the court-registry rule.
The rent-into-registry provisions do not appear in the current text of Section 18-16-101.

7. Treating the criminal route as uniformly available.
Enforcement and prosecutorial practice can vary by county, and the landlord does not control the prosecution.

8. Overlooking forms (1), (4) and (5) of unlawful detainer.
Holdover, the occupant's failure to maintain the premises in a safe, healthy or habitable condition, and nuisance are each independent forms of unlawful detainer under Section 18-60-304.

9. Assuming forfeiture equals possession.
Section 18-16-101(a) says a non-paying tenant forfeits the right to occupy. That statement does not remove anyone.

Building a Defensible Arkansas Eviction Workflow

Arkansas concentrates its risk at the notice stage, because the three routes require different documents and only two of them end in a writ.

Four records carry the weight.

• The route decision, recorded. Which of the three procedures the action proceeds under determines the notice, the court and the outcome. Deciding it deliberately - and recording that decision - is what prevents a blended notice.

• The arrears position on the date of notice. The criminal route and the civil nonpayment routes turn on rent being unpaid when due, while the other civil grounds require different supporting records. 

• The notice itself and its service. What was served, on what date, by what method, and whether it contained the written demand for possession that Section 18-60-304(3) requires. Held with the lease in contracts and renewals.

• The condition and communication trail. Where a dispute concerns the condition of the premises, a dated repair and communication record helps establish what was reported, what was inspected and what action was taken. A complete tenant and property record connects the ledger, the notices and that history.

Conclusion

Arkansas provides three statutory eviction procedures with materially different mechanics.

Section 18-16-101 makes a non-paying tenant's willful refusal to vacate, after ten days' written notice, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one to twenty-five dollars for each offense, with each day the tenant willfully and unnecessarily holds over a separate offense. It is widely described as the only statute of its kind in the country, its constitutional history is contested, and a landlord does not control the prosecution. What it does not contain is any means of recovering the unit.

Sections 18-60-301 to 18-60-312 provide the unlawful detainer route: five statutory forms of unlawful detainer, a three-day notice and written demand for nonpayment, and - at Sections 18-60-309 and 18-60-310 - writs of possession and restitution and their execution.

Sections 18-17-901 to 18-17-913 provide the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act route: three grounds, a five-day residential nonpayment rule under which the nonpayment itself is the legal notice, a district court proceeding, and a writ of eviction within three days of judgment executed by the sheriff.

The criminal route and the civil routes are not simply different speeds of the same process. The criminal statute creates a potential fine; the civil procedures are the court-based mechanisms for recovering possession.

For teams managing Arkansas portfolios in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Springdale, Jonesboro or anywhere in the state, the operating discipline starts before any notice goes out. Decide which of the three procedures you are proceeding under and record that decision. Draft the notice for that procedure alone. For an unlawful detainer nonpayment action, make sure the document contains both the three-day notice to quit and the written demand for possession. Check whether the tenancy falls under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, where the five-day rule and the district court proceeding apply instead. And take Arkansas counsel before asking authorities to pursue the criminal route, because you do not control that prosecution and the statute will not give you possession.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Arkansas has three statutory eviction procedures and the correct one depends on the tenancy and the facts; the constitutional history of Ark. Code Ann. 18-16-101 is contested and enforcement varies by county and prosecuting office; the sections of the unlawful detainer subchapter and the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act eviction subchapter not quoted here contain procedural requirements that should be read in full before filing; and individual circumstances differ. Confirm the current text with the Arkansas Code and consult a licensed Arkansas attorney before commencing any eviction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Does Arkansas really have a criminal eviction statute?
Arkansas Code Annotated 18-16-101 makes it a misdemeanor for a tenant to willfully refuse to vacate after ten days' written notice following nonpayment of rent. It is widely described as the only statute of its kind in the United States.

Q2. Does a conviction under Section 18-16-101 get the landlord possession?
No. The section provides for a fine on conviction and contains no writ of possession, execution or removal mechanism. Possession is recovered through one of Arkansas's two civil procedures: unlawful detainer at Sections 18-60-301 to 18-60-312, or the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act proceeding at Sections 18-17-901 to 18-17-913.

Q3. What is the penalty under the criminal statute?
Under Section 18-16-101(b)(2)(A), a fine of not less than $1.00 nor more than $25.00 for each offense. Under (b)(2)(B), each day the tenant willfully and unnecessarily holds over after the notice expires is a separate offense.

Q4. How much notice does the criminal statute require?
Ten days' notice in writing to vacate, given by the landlord or the landlord's agent or attorney, under Section 18-16-101(b)(1).

Q5. How much notice does a civil nonpayment eviction require?
It depends which procedure applies. Under Section 18-60-304(3), unlawful detainer requires three days' notice to quit and a demand made in writing for possession. Under Section 18-17-901(b), for residential rental agreements, nonpayment within five days of the due date itself constitutes legal notice that the landlord may begin proceedings under that chapter.

Q6. What are the forms of unlawful detainer in Arkansas?
Five, under Section 18-60-304: holding over after the term ends; holding after written demand following lawful entry; failing to pay rent and refusing to quit after the three-day notice and demand; the occupant's failure to maintain the premises in a safe, healthy or habitable condition; and causing or permitting a nuisance.

Q7. Is the criminal statute constitutional?
The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld it in Duhon v. State (1989), which also held that a defendant may raise civil defences. Later litigation has challenged it, including 2015 circuit court decisions in several counties reported as State v. Artoria Smith, and repeal bills have failed in committee. No later statewide appellate decision found in this review has invalidated it, and enforcement and prosecutorial practice can vary by county.

Q8. Does a tenant have to pay rent into court to contest a charge?
Provisions requiring payment into the registry of the court do not appear in the current text of Section 18-16-101. Guidance describing that requirement reflects an earlier version of the section.

Q9. Can an Arkansas landlord change the locks instead?
Section 18-60-302 prohibits improper entry. Possession is recovered through the court process, whether by writ of possession under Sections 18-60-309 and 18-60-310 or writ of eviction under Sections 18-17-907 and 18-17-913.

Q10. Which route should a property manager use?
Arkansas has two civil procedures that can lead to court-ordered possession: unlawful detainer at Sections 18-60-301 to 18-60-312, and the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act proceeding at Sections 18-17-901 to 18-17-913. Section 18-16-101 is different: it creates criminal liability and a fine rather than a writ, and the landlord does not control the prosecution. Take Arkansas counsel on which procedure fits the tenancy.

Q11. What is the five-day rule in Arkansas?
Under Section 18-17-901(b), for residential rental agreements, nonpayment of rent within five days of the date due constitutes legal notice to the tenant that the landlord has the right to begin eviction proceedings under that chapter. It is not a notice the landlord serves.