Arkansas CCW Renewal: Training, Fees, and Deadlines

To complete an Arkansas CCW renewal, file your application with the Arkansas State Police within the 90 days before your license expires, submit a signed certificate from a renewal training course with live-fire completed in the previous six months, and pay the $52.50 online fee.¹² Licenses run for five years, and the ASP runs a fresh background check with every renewal.

When to File

Your renewal window opens 90 days before the expiration date printed on your license. File inside that window and your authorization stays uninterrupted.¹

If the date slips past you, there is a six-month grace period for a late renewal, with a $15 penalty on top of the standard fee. After six months past expiration, the license is permanently expired and cannot be renewed; you have to apply as a brand-new applicant, which means full training, fingerprints through a livescan operator, and a complete background investigation.¹³

Because the ASP can take up to four months to process a renewal, submitting early in your 90-day window gives you a buffer if something in the application needs correcting.⁴

Training You Have to Complete

Every renewal requires a training course with a live-fire component, whether you hold a standard or enhanced license. The live-fire proficiency test must be completed within the six months before you submit your renewal.⁵ Your instructor signs a certification form that you include with the application.¹

Enhanced licensees also complete the enhanced course, roughly four hours of instruction plus a live-fire qualification that requires hitting within the 7-ring of a B-27 target at prescribed distances within a time limit.⁶ The Arkansas State Police concealed carry licensing page lists approved instructors. Schedule training early enough that the certification does not go stale before the ASP finishes with your file.

How to Submit the Application

You can renew two ways: online through the CHCL portal at chcl.ark.org, or by mailing a paper application. Online is faster and is the ASP’s preferred method, and it lets you track your status.⁴ Paper applications go to Arkansas State Police, ATTN: CHCL, 1 State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209.

Make sure every detail on the application matches what the ASP already has on file for you. Common things that slow processing include unclassifiable fingerprints, incomplete criminal history records, missing or unsigned training certificates, and not responding promptly when the ASP asks for more information.⁴

What Goes in the Packet

Completed renewal form from chcl.ark.org or the ASP website, including a sworn statement that you still meet eligibility requirements.
Signed training certification from your instructor confirming the renewal course with live-fire was completed in the past six months.³
Your current or recently expired CHCL number and its expiration date.
A digital photograph meeting ASP specifications, if the agency cannot pull your photo from your Arkansas driver’s license.³
Payment of the applicable fee.

The ASP runs a new background check through both the Arkansas Crime Information Center and the FBI as part of every renewal. There is no separate authorization form to submit; the check fee is built into the online renewal payment.¹

Fees and Payment

The online renewal fee is $52.50, covering both the application fee and the background check in a single payment. Enhanced renewals cost the same $52.50. There is no age-based discount on renewals.²

If your license has already expired but it has been less than six months, the late online renewal is $67.95, which includes the $15 late penalty.²

The online portal takes Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and e-checks. For paper applications, pay by check or money order made out to the Arkansas State Police. Do not send cash. Walk-in applicants can pay by credit card or check, with a small surcharge for cards.²

If Your License Already Expired

Inside Arkansas, an expired permit does not automatically put you in violation. The state’s carrying statute makes it an offense only to possess a handgun with the purpose of unlawfully using it against another person.⁷ That offense is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁸

Outside Arkansas, an expired license is a real problem. Any state that honored your Arkansas permit no longer recognizes your authority to carry there, and you lose whatever location-specific privileges came with an enhanced endorsement. Arkansas does not maintain a list of states that honor its license, so check with each destination state before you travel.⁴ Inside the six-month grace window, paying the $15 late fee is far cheaper and faster than starting over. Past six months you are back to the new-applicant process.¹

Address and Name Changes Before Renewal

If you move or change your name, you must notify the ASP in writing within 30 days of the change. The same 30-day deadline applies if your license is lost or destroyed.⁹ Mismatched address or name information can slow a renewal, so handle the notification first even if your filing window is only a few months out.

Why a Renewal Can Be Denied

Because the ASP runs a fresh background check with every renewal, anything that has changed in your record since the last application can trigger a denial.

A felony conviction bars firearm possession under Arkansas law, with narrow exceptions for certain completed sentences involving business regulation offenses such as antitrust violations.¹⁰ A violent misdemeanor conviction within the past five years can also result in denial.¹¹

Being adjudicated mentally ill or involuntarily committed to a mental institution is disqualifying.¹⁰ So is chronic substance abuse that impairs your normal faculties; the law presumes impairment if you have been committed to a treatment facility or convicted of a controlled substance offense.¹² The ASP can also deny a renewal if your local sheriff or chief of police submits an affidavit stating you are reasonably likely to be a danger to yourself or others based on documented past behavior, or if you are under criminal investigation at the time of your application.¹¹

One often-overlooked trigger is child support delinquency. Arkansas law requires the ASP to suspend a concealed carry license when ordered to do so by the Office of Child Support Enforcement.¹³ If your license has been suspended for that reason and has since expired, you have to resolve the delinquency before you can renew.

If the ASP denies your renewal, you have the right to an administrative hearing under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act. The burden is on you to show you meet all qualification requirements, so pulling court records or other documentation ahead of the hearing is worth the time if the denial rests on something you believe is inaccurate.³

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-313 – Expiration and Renewal
2
Arkansas State Police. Welcome to the Arkansas State Police Concealed Handgun Carry Online Licensing System
3
LII / Legal Information Institute. 130.00.19 Arkansas Code R 002 – Arkansas Concealed Handgun Carry License Rules
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Arkansas Department of Public Safety. Concealed Handgun Carry Licensing
5
Code of Arkansas Rules. 5 CAR 1-301 – Training Requirement for Concealed Handgun Carry License
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Arkansas Department of Public Safety. How to Obtain Arkansas Enhanced Concealed Handgun Carry License
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-120 – Carrying a Weapon
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-314 – Lost or Destroyed License, Change of Address
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-103 – Possession of Firearms by Certain Persons
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-308 – License, Issuance or Denial
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-309 – License, Requirements
13
Code of Arkansas Rules. 17 CAR 350-606 – Suspension for Nonpayment of Child Support