Arkansas Burn Ban Rules, Penalties, and Exceptions

Arkansas burn ban rules let a county judge or city official temporarily prohibit most outdoor burning when drought, low humidity, or high winds make fires likely to spread. When a ban is active in your county, routine burns that would normally be legal, including yard waste on your own land, are off-limits unless you obtain a local permit. Burning anyway is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, and if your fire escapes and damages a neighbor’s property you can also be sued in civil court for the full cost.

Who Declares a Burn Ban and How to Check

County judges and city officials have the authority to declare burn bans in Arkansas when dry conditions create dangerous fire risk. A ban is a temporary order covering a specific county or city, and it can go into effect quickly when weather deteriorates.

The fastest way to see whether your area is under a ban is the state’s interactive burn ban map, which Arkansas maintains on its official portal.¹ You can also call your county judge’s office, local fire department, or city hall. Check before you light anything, every time. A county that was clear yesterday can be under a ban today.

What a Burn Ban Prohibits

A burn ban sits on top of Arkansas’s permanent unlawful burning statute, which applies year-round regardless of weather. The permanent law already restricts how you burn; the ban temporarily restricts whether you can burn at all.

During an active ban, you generally cannot:

Burn leaves, brush, grass, or other yard waste on your own property
Burn debris, stumps, or cleared vegetation on land you own or control
Light open fires on another person’s land
Build or leave a campfire that could spread

The precautions the state normally requires before and after lighting a debris fire are not enough during a ban. The ban removes the activity from the “legal with precautions” category entirely until it is lifted or you secure a permit from the official who declared it.

The statute treats a fire that escapes to a neighbor’s timber or grassland as automatic evidence that you failed to take proper precautions.² If that escape happens during a burn ban, you are stacking a ban violation on top of a negligence case the state has already made for you.

Permits and Exceptions During a Ban

Local governments in Arkansas run their own permit systems for outdoor burning. These permits come from the county courthouse, city hall, or local fire department.³ When a ban is in effect, a permit from the official who declared it is usually the only legal path to an outdoor burn. Call your county judge’s office or city hall to ask whether permits are even being issued and what conditions apply.

A local safety permit does not substitute for any permit required under state environmental regulations, and the reverse is also true.³ If both apply to what you want to do, you need both.

Arkansas law exempts certain agricultural operations from some environmental burning restrictions, which covers activities like burning crop residue after harvest.⁴ The agricultural exemption does not override an active burn ban and does not excuse a fire that escapes your property. Standard practices like disking perimeters to create firebreaks are expected, and skipping them strengthens any negligence case against you.

Materials You Cannot Burn, Ban or No Ban

Even when no ban is in effect, Arkansas’s air quality rules limit what you can put in a legal outdoor fire. Rule No. 18 of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission prohibits open burning of garbage, refuse, and trade waste.⁵ That rule bars:

Household garbage, including food waste and packaging
Plastics and synthetic materials
Construction and demolition debris, including treated or painted lumber and roofing materials
Tires, rubber, and asphaltic materials

Natural vegetation such as leaves, brush, and untreated wood is generally allowed with proper precautions when no ban is active, though local authorities may still require a permit.³

Penalties for Violating Arkansas Burning Laws

The consequences for burning when you should not have fall into three stacking categories: a misdemeanor charge, a possible felony if intent is involved, and a civil lawsuit from anyone your fire harms.

Class A Misdemeanor

Standard unlawful burning under § 5-38-310 is a Class A misdemeanor. The maximum sentence is one year in jail.⁶ The maximum fine is $2,500.⁷ A judge can impose jail time, a fine, or both. First offenses with no property damage more often draw fines than jail, but the court has full discretion.

You do not need to have intended any harm. Losing control of a fire you built, leaving a campfire to spread, or tossing a lit cigarette into forest material all qualify.² Carelessness is enough.

Class C Felony

Three specific situations escalate to Class C felonies under § 5-38-311:

Purposely setting fire to another person’s land⁸
Starting a fire on your own land intending it to spread to someone else’s property, even if it never actually gets there⁸
Destroying, damaging, or stealing telephone lines, towers, buildings, tools, or equipment used to detect, report, or suppress fires⁸

A Class C felony carries three to ten years in prison.⁶ Fines can reach $10,000.⁷ A conviction leaves a permanent record that affects employment and housing long after the sentence ends.

Civil Liability

Separate from any criminal case, Arkansas has a civil statute that makes you liable for damage your fire causes. If you set fire to grass or other material within your own property and it damages someone else’s property, the injured party can sue you for compensatory damages.⁹

A fire that escapes and burns a fence, barn, timber, or home can produce a lawsuit on top of the criminal charge. The civil case does not require a conviction. Your neighbor only has to prove the fire started on your property and caused the loss. Homeowners insurance may or may not cover these damages depending on your policy and whether the insurer finds you were negligent. Burning during a ban, or without the required precautions, makes a negligence finding considerably easier.

Staying Compliant

Most burn ban trouble comes from skipping a thirty-second check. Before any outdoor burn:

Check the state burn ban map for your county.¹
Call your local fire department or county judge’s office if you are unsure whether a permit is required.
Clear a buffer of bare ground around the burn area.
Keep water or a shovel within reach.
Never leave the fire unattended.

If the wind picks up or humidity drops while you are burning, put the fire out. Good intentions do not count under the statute. If the fire escapes, that escape itself is treated as evidence you did something wrong, and criminal charges and a civil lawsuit from your neighbor can both follow.²

1
Arkansas.gov. State Burn Ban Map
2
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
3
Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ
4
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 8-4-305 – Exceptions
5
Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality. Rule No. 18 – Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission
6
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence
7
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
8
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-311 – Unlawful Burning – Miscellaneous Felonies
9
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 18 Property 18-60-103