State Supreme Courts Resource

Ar. Const. Art. 2, § 9. Excessive bail shall not be required; nor shall excessive fines be imposed; nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted; nor witnesses be unreasonably detained.

• Arkansas Civil Rights Act, AR ST § 16-123-105. (a) Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of this state or any of its political subdivisions subjects, or causes to be subjected, any person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Arkansas Constitution shall be liable to the party injured in an action in circuit court for legal and equitable relief or other proper redress. (b) In the discretion of the court, a party held liable under this section shall also pay the injured party’s cost of litigation and a reasonable attorney’s fee in an amount to be fixed by the court. (c) When construing this section, a court may look for guidance to state and federal decisions interpreting the federal Civil Rights Act of 1871, as amended and codified in 42 U.S.C. 1983, as in effect on January 1, 1993, which decisions and act shall have persuasive authority only.
• Note that “[a]ny compensatory damages after payment of attorney’s fees and costs awarded to a prisoner in connection with a civil action brought against any state or local jail, prison, or correctional facility, or against any official or agent of such jail, person, or correctional facility, shall be paid directly to satisfy any outstanding restitution orders pending against the prisoner. Ar. Code § 12-29-601(a). The remainder of any such award after full payment of all pending restitution orders shall be forwarded to the prisoner. Id.

• Juveniles: Arkansas HB 1755. Concerns the punitive isolation or solitary confinement of individuals who are under eighteen years of age. Prohibits the placement of juveniles in punitive isolation or solitary confinement for longer than 24 hours unless placement is due to an assault committed by the [juvenile], conduct that poses an imminent threat, or an attempted escape. Requires that the director of the juvenile detention facility provide written authorization for every period of 24 hours during which a juvenile is held in solitary.

• Ar. Code §§ 16-106-201 to -204. If the court determines before or at trial that one (1) or more of the causes of action are frivolous or malicious, any one (1) or more of the following sanctions may be imposed: (1) Award attorney’s fees and actual costs incurred by the state, the Department of Correction, or the Department of Community Correction, another state agency, a political subdivision, the Attorney General’s office, or the defendant, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per frivolous cause of action; (2) Court costs not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per cause of action; (3) Order the Department of Correction to revoke up to thirty (30) days’ earned good-time credits accrued, under § 12-29-201 et seq.; (4) Order the Department of Correction to revoke permission to have nonessential personal property of the inmate, including, but not limited to, televisions, radios, stereos, or tape recorders. If permission is revoked, the Department of Correction shall take appropriate precautions to protect the property during the period of the revocation; or (5) Impose a civil sanction in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
• Ar. Code §§ 16-106-301 to 302. Incarcerated plaintiff must exhaust administrative remedies before bringing suit.
• Ar. Code §§ 16-63-220. Defendants can waive reply.
• Ar. Cod §§ 16-68-601 to -607. Incarcerated plaintiff must pay twenty percent of the preceding six months’ income as filing fee. Court may authorize commencement of case without payment of fees if incarcerated plaintiff submits affidavit outlining inability to pay.
• Ar. Code §§ 12-29-601 to -602. Damages will paid into restitution fund before paid to incarcerated plaintiff.
• The Arkansas Civil Rights Act does not contain a special prisoner exhaustion requirement analogous to the exhaustion requirement of the federal PLRA.
  • Harmon v. Jackson, 2018 Ark. 196, 547 S.W.3d 686, 689–90 (2018) (“The PLRA is a federal law that is not applicable to actions brought against public officials in their individual capacities under ACRA and Arkansas tort law. While ACRA is guided by federal law as to actions filed pursuant to § 1983, there is nothing in ACRA that references the applicability of the PLRA.”).

• Ar. St. § 19-10-305. Officers and employees of the State of Arkansas are liable for malicious acts or omissions occurring within the course and scope of their employment.
• Ar. St. § 16-66-119. Any sheriff or other law enforcement officer acting reasonably, in good faith, and not in violation of clearly established law, and exercising due care while serving and executing writs of execution shall have immunity from suit and civil liability and shall not be liable for any civil damages for acts performed in the official performance of his or her duties.
• Ar. St. § 25-17-306. Institutional law enforcement officers exempt from personal liability when acting within scope of authority.
• The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that state courts must apply federal qualified immunity doctrine. Robinson v. Langdon, 333 Ark. 662, 671, 970 S.W.2d 292, 296 (1998).