Arkansas Hunting Violations: Fines, Points, and Restitution

Arkansas hunting violation penalties run from a $100 fine for a minor regulatory slip to five years in federal prison for trafficking illegally taken wildlife across state lines. Most citations fall somewhere in between: a court fine, wildlife restitution paid to the state, points on your Game and Fish record, and, for serious offenses, a license revocation that follows you into 46 other states.

AGFC Violation Classes

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission sorts regulation violations into five classes. The fine and jail exposure climb with each class:

Class 1: $100 to $1,000 and up to 30 days in jail.
Class 2: $250 to $2,500 and up to 60 days in jail.

Classes 3 through 5 carry progressively steeper penalties, with Class 5 reserved for the most serious violations.¹ Court costs and administrative fees are added on top of the base fine. Even a low-level Class 1 conviction feeds into the point system, which can trigger a separate license suspension on its own.

Wildlife Restitution

If you illegally kill a game animal, the court can order you to pay restitution to the state in addition to any fine. The AGFC sets restitution ranges by species:

Elk: $750 to $2,500
White-tailed deer: $300 to $600
Black bear: $250 to $750
Wild turkey: $250 to $500

The exact amount within each range depends on factors like the animal’s size and trophy quality.² Someone who poaches a trophy elk can owe $2,500 in restitution on top of a $2,500 Class 2 fine before court costs and attorney fees enter the picture. This is often where the real financial damage lands.

The Point System and License Suspension

Every conviction for a Commission regulation violation adds points to your record. Points are assessed when you plead guilty, plead no contest, forfeit a bond, or are otherwise convicted, and they stay on your record for five years before expiring. The values track the offense class:

Class 1: 6 points
Class 2: 12 points
Class 3: 18 points
Class 4: 30 points
Class 5: 99 points

Accumulating enough points triggers an administrative suspension of your hunting and fishing privileges, separate from anything the court orders.³ A single Class 5 conviction will almost certainly get you there on its own. Smaller violations can also accumulate quietly, and some hunters only find out their privileges are gone when a game warden runs their license during the next season.

The point system also captures federal wildlife convictions committed in Arkansas and, through the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, convictions from other member states.

Interstate Consequences

Arkansas belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a 47-state agreement that treats a suspension in any member state as a suspension in every member state.⁴⁵ Lose your license in Arkansas and you lose it almost everywhere else. The reverse applies too: a conviction in another compact state can suspend your Arkansas privileges.

The compact defines “suspension” to cover any revocation, denial, or withdrawal of license privileges, including the privilege to apply for or purchase a license. Buying a nonresident license in a neighboring state is not a workaround.

Trespass While Carrying a Hunting Weapon

Walking onto someone else’s land with a rifle, shotgun, or bow is one of the fastest ways to turn a routine hunting trip into a serious charge. Under Arkansas Code 5-39-203, criminal trespass while in possession of a “killing device” is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁶⁷ The weapon in your hands is what elevates ordinary trespass into Class A territory.

Interfering With Someone Else’s Hunt

Arkansas Code 5-71-228 makes it unlawful to willfully obstruct a person’s lawful shooting, hunting, fishing, or trapping. “Willfully” matters here. Accidental interference or a polite disagreement does not trigger the statute, and a landowner telling someone to stop hunting on their land is exercising a legal right, not interfering.⁸

The penalty depends on whether the offender had a firearm:

With a firearm (Class A misdemeanor): up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁹⁷
Without a firearm (Class B misdemeanor): up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.⁹⁷

A conviction also results in automatic revocation of any Arkansas hunting, fishing, or trapping license the offender holds. The statute makes revocation mandatory, not discretionary.⁸ On the other side of the ledger, a hunter who is the victim of willful interference can petition for an injunction and recover compensatory damages covering wasted license fees, travel, guide fees, equipment, and supplies, along with potential punitive damages.

Federal Lacey Act Exposure

State penalties stop at the state line only in theory. The federal Lacey Act kicks in whenever illegally taken wildlife crosses state lines or enters interstate commerce, and the knowledge standard sets the tier:

Felony: knowing the wildlife was taken illegally and either importing or exporting it, or engaging in a commercial transaction over $350, carries up to five years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine per violation.¹⁰
Misdemeanor: when the offender should have known but lacked actual knowledge, the penalty drops to up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.¹⁰

Civil penalties can reach $33,181 per violation for the most serious offenses.¹¹ For Arkansas hunters, the usual trigger is selling or transporting illegally taken deer, bear, or elk out of state. Even giving poached game to a friend across the state line can create Lacey Act exposure if the knowledge element is met.

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AGFC. 01.00-I – Penalties Upon Conviction
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AGFC. Q1.01 – Restitution Values For Wildlife Species
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AGFC. 01.00-K – Point System For Violations of Commission Regulations
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AGFC. Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact
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National Center for Interstate Compacts. Wildlife Violator Compact
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-39-203 – Criminal Trespass
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines
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Arkansas Code. Arkansas Code 5-71-228 – Unlawful Interference With Hunting, Fishing, or Trapping
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S. Code 3373 – Penalties and Sanctions
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eCFR. 50 CFR 11.33 – Adjustments to Penalties