An Arkansas burn ban is a county-level order from your county judge that prohibits most outdoor burning in unincorporated areas when drought, low humidity, or wind make fires dangerous. Each of the state’s 75 counties decides independently, so a ban can be active in your county while the next one over has none. Violating a ban is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and up to a year in jail.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
How to Check If a Burn Ban Is Active in Your County
Start with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division’s online fire map, which shows current fire danger and active burn bans by county and updates as judges issue or lift orders.4Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Wildfire Danger and Burn Bans That’s the most reliable statewide source.
To confirm before you light anything, call your county judge’s office or the county sheriff. The sheriff’s department usually enforces the ban in unincorporated areas and will know the exact status and any conditions attached.5American Legal Publishing. Jackson County Code of Ordinances 92.01 – Conditions Under Which Burning Banned Don’t assume a ban has ended because it rained once. Most Arkansas burn bans stay in effect indefinitely until the county judge lifts them after substantial rainfall or other conditions reduce the fire danger.6Garland County. Garland County – BURN BAN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
One boundary worth knowing: a county ban applies to unincorporated areas. If you live inside city limits, your municipality may have its own separate rules, so check with the local fire department too.
What a Burn Ban Prohibits
A burn ban targets open burning, meaning any fire that isn’t enclosed in a non-combustible structure. The activities that get people cited are the obvious ones: burning leaves and brush, debris piles, land-clearing fires, and agricultural field burns. Under state law, setting fire to any forest, brush, or other flammable material while a ban is active is unlawful burning.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
What’s Still Allowed and the Legal Defenses
Not every flame is banned. County orders generally permit contained fires that pose little escape risk. Cooking on a gas, propane, or charcoal grill is the most common carve-out. Small recreational fires in enclosed fire pits or at established campgrounds are also typically allowed, provided someone stays with the fire at all times.
Beyond those practical exemptions, Arkansas law gives two specific defenses to someone charged with burning during a ban:
- A permit from the chief executive of the political subdivision that issued the ban. Burning under that permit is not a violation.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
- Crop residue burning by a farmer on his or her own land after harvest. The defense only holds if you disk the field perimeters or take other safety measures required by the county burn ban officer to create a barrier against adjacent land. Without the firebreak, the defense is gone, and you’re also liable for actual damages to any neighboring property the fire reaches.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
Specific terms vary from one county to the next. What’s permitted in your county may not be permitted in the next one over during the same drought.
Penalties for Burning During a Ban
Unlawful burning under Arkansas Code ยง 5-38-310 is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
Counties layer their own fines on top through local ordinance, and the amounts vary. Jackson County, for example, sets its local fine between $25 and $300 per violation, with up to one year in the county jail.5American Legal Publishing. Jackson County Code of Ordinances 92.01 – Conditions Under Which Burning Banned Check your own county’s ordinance for the local figure.
Civil Liability If the Fire Spreads
The criminal fine is often the smaller problem. If a fire you set during a ban escapes and damages neighboring property, you can be held liable for the actual damages. The unlawful burning statute writes this exposure in directly for farmers who skip the required firebreaks, and the same principle of liability for negligently set fires applies more broadly.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning Firefighting response costs and property restoration can run far beyond any criminal penalty.
Outdoor Burning When No Ban Is Active
No burn ban doesn’t mean no rules. The Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality requires a permit for open burning in certain situations, particularly where no practicable alternative disposal method exists.7Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ Some counties and cities also require a local permit from the courthouse, city hall, or fire department before you burn yard waste.
Cooking fires, recreational fires in fire pits, yard waste burns, and land-clearing operations are generally legal when no ban is active, but you remain responsible for keeping the fire under control. If it escapes onto someone else’s property, you face the same criminal and civil exposure under the unlawful burning statute as a burn ban violator.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning Before any significant outdoor burn, call the county judge’s office or your local fire department and confirm what’s allowed that day.