Arkansas Act 346: Eligibility, Record Sealing, and Its Limits

Arkansas Act 346 is a first-offender statute, codified at Arkansas Code § 16-93-303, that lets someone facing a first felony plead guilty or no contest, complete a probation period, and then have the case dismissed and the record sealed without a formal conviction. The relief is real, but it comes with conditions during probation, a shortlist of offenses it won’t touch, and several federal contexts where the underlying plea still counts against you.

Who Qualifies

Three things have to line up. You have to plead guilty or no contest before the court adjudicates guilt. You cannot have any prior felony convictions. And the court has to agree to defer adjudication in the first place.¹

That last point catches people. The statute says nothing in it “requires or compels” any Arkansas court to establish first-offender procedures. Whether a particular judge routinely grants Act 346 treatment or almost never does is a matter of local practice. The program runs in both circuit court and district court, and a fine of up to $3,500 or an assessment of court costs does not disqualify you or turn the probation into a conviction.¹

Charges the Program Won’t Seal

Even a qualifying defendant cannot get the record sealed under Act 346 if the plea is to one of these offenses:

Sex offenses requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997
Public sexual indecency (§ 5-14-111)
Indecent exposure (§ 5-14-112)
Bestiality (§ 5-14-122)
Exposing another person to HIV (§ 5-14-123)
Serious violent felonies or violent felonies as defined in § 5-4-501

If your charge falls in one of these buckets, a judge can still defer adjudication and put you on probation, but the sealing step at the end is not available.¹

What Probation Looks Like

The probation period runs at least one year. It cannot exceed the longest prison sentence allowed for the offense, consistent with general Arkansas probation rules. Within that window, the court sets conditions that fit the case.

Employment is treated as central. If the judge finds that a lack of job skills contributed to the offense, the court must order you to enroll in and complete a vocational, technical, or educational program, with tuition payable in installments after completion if that’s what it takes to make the program accessible. After finishing the program, you still have to hold suitable employment for the rest of probation or three years, whichever comes first. Defendants who don’t need training face the parallel requirement: consistent suitable employment for the full probation term or three years.¹

What Happens If You Violate

A violation can end the deferral. If you break any term or condition, the court can enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed as it would in any other criminal case, meaning sentencing on the original charge. The deferred status disappears, the path to sealing disappears, and the case becomes a standard felony conviction.¹

The judge has discretion. A minor technical violation may lead to modified conditions rather than revocation. But the statutory authority to convert the deferral into a conviction is there, and every probation condition should be treated as non-negotiable.

How the Sealing Actually Happens

When you finish probation successfully, or the court releases you early, you’re discharged without an adjudication of guilt. The court then enters an order dismissing the case and sealing the record, provided the sealing is consistent with the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013.¹

One requirement trips people up: all court-ordered restitution must be paid in full before any record can be sealed. If a balance remains when probation ends, sealing waits until it’s cleared.²

The mechanics: you file a petition and proposed order with the court where you were sentenced. Once the judge signs the order, the court clerk forwards it to the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC), which has 30 days from receipt to update its records. You can also deliver a copy of the signed order to ACIC directly by mail, fax, or in person.

What “No Conviction” Really Means, During Probation

While you are on probation, you’re generally treated as not having a felony conviction. That helps with employment, housing, and most day-to-day background questions. The statute carves out specific exceptions where the underlying charge still counts as a felony conviction during the probation period:

Any law prohibiting certain people from possessing firearms still applies to you
Prosecutors can count the deferred case toward habitual-offender status on a new charge
The charge counts in criminal history assessments and sentencing score calculations
A judge sentencing you on a separate offense can treat the deferred case as a prior felony
Opposing counsel can use the conviction to challenge your credibility as a witness under Arkansas Rule of Evidence 609

The firearm carveout is the one most people feel directly. During probation on a felony-level offense, you cannot legally possess a firearm, even though the court has not formally convicted you.¹

What “No Conviction” Really Means, After Completion

Once probation ends and the court discharges you, the firearm restriction tied to Act 346 drops off. What still survives:

Habitual offender determinations
Criminal history and criminal history score calculations
Sentencing on any future offense
Impeachment as a witness

Post-sealing firearm eligibility under state law is then governed by § 5-73-103, which has its own set of disqualifying conditions.¹ For employment, housing, and standard commercial background checks, a sealed record generally will not appear. For future criminal cases, the deferred charge can still be reached back for and treated as a prior felony.

Where a Sealed Record Still Shows Up

Act 346 gives you a clean slate for civilian life. It does not give you an invisible record for every purpose, and this is where the biggest surprises lie.

Federal Firearms

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing a firearm.³ Whether a sealed Act 346 disposition counts as a “conviction” under federal law is genuinely complex. The ATF has said that people whose convictions have been set aside or expunged, or who have been pardoned or had civil rights restored, are generally not treated as convicted for federal firearm purposes, unless the jurisdiction expressly prohibits them from possessing firearms.⁴ Confirm your specific status with an attorney before purchasing or possessing a firearm after sealing.

Immigration

If you are not a U.S. citizen, this is the section that matters most. Federal immigration law defines “conviction” far more broadly than Arkansas does. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a conviction includes any case in which the person entered a guilty or no-contest plea and a judge ordered any form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on liberty, even if the court withheld adjudication of guilt.⁵

Act 346 checks both boxes. You plead guilty or no contest, and the court places you on probation. Federal immigration authorities will treat the deferred adjudication as a conviction for deportation, visa eligibility, and naturalization, regardless of the Arkansas outcome. The USCIS policy manual is explicit: where adjudication is deferred, the original plea combined with an imposed punishment is sufficient to establish a conviction for immigration purposes.⁶ Talk to an immigration attorney before entering any plea.

Security Clearances and Federal Jobs

Federal background investigations reach past state sealing orders. The SF-86 questionnaire for national security positions requires disclosure of criminal history regardless of whether the record was sealed, expunged, or stricken, or the charge was dismissed. Investigators use FBI fingerprint databases that state sealing does not touch. Non-disclosure is worse than disclosure, because it can be treated as deliberate falsification, which is independently disqualifying.

Professional Licensing

Arkansas licensing boards vary. Many run fingerprint-based checks through state and federal databases that can surface sealed records. Some applications ask about all prior criminal history including sealed or dismissed cases; others ask only about convictions. Read your specific application carefully. If it asks about arrests, charges, or pleas rather than just convictions, disclose.

Canadian Border

Canada has access to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, so Canadian border officers can see a U.S. criminal record even after it’s been sealed. A sealed DUI, drug possession, domestic violence, or theft charge can make you inadmissible. There is no statute of limitations on Canadian criminal inadmissibility. Options include applying for a Temporary Resident Permit or pursuing Criminal Rehabilitation status through the Canadian government.

Protecting the Benefit

Act 346 works cleanly if you treat it as a serious set of obligations rather than a formality.

Pay restitution early. Sealing cannot move forward until every dollar of court-ordered restitution is paid.
Keep documentation. Proof of program enrollment, employment records, and payment receipts protect you if there’s any dispute about compliance.
Understand the one-time limit. Arkansas law allows only one discharge and dismissal of this kind per person. If a new felony charge comes later, Act 346 is not available again.
Answer disclosure questions based on what each form actually asks. Federal agencies, immigration authorities, some licensing boards, and foreign governments can still access the record, so honest, accurate answers matter more than assuming the sealing hides it.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 16-93-303 – Probation – First Time Offenders – Procedure
2
Arkansas General Assembly. Arkansas House Bill 1638 – Act 1460 of 2013
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
4
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Most Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Adjudicative Factors