An Arkansas order of protection is a civil court order, issued under the state’s Domestic Abuse Act of 1991, that restricts an abuser’s contact and behavior toward a family or household member. It can force the abuser out of a shared home, ban contact, set temporary custody, and require support. Violating one is a criminal offense: a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense, and a Class D felony if it happens again within five years.
Who Can Ask for One
You qualify if a family or household member has committed domestic abuse against you. Arkansas law defines domestic abuse as physical harm, bodily injury, assault, the threat of imminent physical harm, or any sexual conduct between family or household members that would be a crime under state law.1Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-103 – Definitions
“Family or household members” is a broad category. It includes:
- Spouses and former spouses
- Parents and children
- Blood relatives within the fourth degree
- In-laws within the second degree
- Current or former cohabitants
- People who share a child
- Current or former dating partners, judged by the length, type, and frequency of the relationship
Casual acquaintances and ordinary social contacts do not count as a dating relationship under the statute.1Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-103 – Definitions
How to File and What It Costs
You file a verified petition in circuit court in the county where you live, where the abuse happened, or where the respondent can be served. Any adult family or household member can file on their own behalf, or on behalf of a minor or someone adjudicated incompetent.
Filing costs the petitioner nothing. Arkansas law bars the court, the clerk, and law enforcement from charging any initial filing fee or service cost to the person seeking protection. If a final order is granted after a hearing, filing fees can be assessed against the respondent. If the court finds the allegations were false, it can shift costs back to the petitioner.
Once you file, the judge reviews the petition and can issue a temporary order right away without the respondent being present, if the circumstances justify immediate protection. That temporary order holds until the court can hold a full hearing on whether to enter a final order.2Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-206 – Temporary Order
What the Order Can Require
The court tailors each order to the situation. Depending on what you ask for and what the judge finds necessary, an order can:
- Order the abuser to leave a shared dwelling or stay away from your residence
- Bar the abuser from your workplace, school, or other specified locations
- Prohibit contact, directly or through a third party, except on conditions the court spells out
- Award temporary custody of minor children and set temporary visitation
- Require temporary child support or spousal support, enforceable like any other support order
- Include any other relief the court finds necessary, such as ordering the abuser to stop injuring, threatening, or harassing you
All of this relief is available in both temporary and final orders.2Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-206 – Temporary Order
How the Order Is Enforced
An order issued in any Arkansas county is enforceable statewide, by any law enforcement officer in any county. Moving across county lines gives a violator no safe harbor.3Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-207 – Order of Protection – Enforcement – Penalties – Criminal Jurisdiction
Officers do not need to witness the violation. If an officer has probable cause to believe the respondent violated the order and can verify the order exists, the officer can make a warrantless arrest.3Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-207 – Order of Protection – Enforcement – Penalties – Criminal Jurisdiction
Orders from other jurisdictions carry the same weight. Federal law requires every state to give full faith and credit to a protection order from another state, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or a U.S. territory, provided the issuing court had jurisdiction and the respondent had reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders Arkansas’s criminal statute expressly covers violations of out-of-state, tribal, and military protection orders, with the same penalties as violations of Arkansas orders.5Justia. Arkansas Code 5-53-134 – Violation of an Order of Protection
Penalties for Violation
A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor. That carries up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.3Justia. Arkansas Code 9-15-207 – Order of Protection – Enforcement – Penalties – Criminal Jurisdiction
Repeat violations are treated far more harshly. A second violation within five years of a prior conviction for the same offense is a Class D felony, but only if the underlying order was issued after a hearing with actual notice and an opportunity to participate.5Justia. Arkansas Code 5-53-134 – Violation of an Order of Protection A Class D felony carries up to six years in prison6Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.7Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
The state has to prove the respondent knowingly violated a condition of the order, which requires actual notice that the order exists. Once the order has been personally served, arguing ignorance becomes very difficult.5Justia. Arkansas Code 5-53-134 – Violation of an Order of Protection
Firearm Consequences Under Federal Law
Federal law adds a consequence many respondents do not expect. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(8), a person subject to a qualifying protection order cannot possess, ship, or receive firearms or ammunition. The prohibition applies when the order was issued after a hearing with actual notice and an opportunity to participate, restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child, and either includes a finding of credible threat or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force against that partner or child.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
Violating the federal ban while the order is in effect is a federal crime punishable by up to ten years in prison.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the prohibition in United States v. Rahimi, ruling that banning firearm possession by someone found to pose a credible threat to an intimate partner is consistent with the Second Amendment.
Temporary ex parte orders generally do not trigger the federal ban, because they are issued before the respondent has had a hearing. The restriction attaches when a final order is entered after a noticed hearing, provided the order meets the criteria above.
What Respondents Get Wrong
An order of protection is a one-way obligation. The respondent must follow every condition regardless of what the protected person does. If the petitioner calls, texts, or shows up at your door, the order still binds you. Responding to that contact can result in your arrest, even though the petitioner started it. This trips people up more than almost anything else in protection-order law.
If circumstances have changed and you think the order should be modified or lifted, the only correct move is to go back to court and ask the judge. Treating the petitioner’s behavior as permission to violate the order regularly leads to criminal charges. Every condition stays enforceable until a judge formally changes or dissolves it.