The Arkansas personal injury statute of limitations gives you three years from the date of injury to file most lawsuits, including car accidents, slip-and-fall claims, and other negligence cases. Shorter or different deadlines apply to medical malpractice (two years), wrongful death (three years from the date of death), and claims against government entities. Missing the applicable deadline almost always ends the case, no matter how strong it is on the merits.
The Three-Year Default for Most Injury Claims
Arkansas Code 16-56-105 sets a three-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions.1Justia. Arkansas Code 16-56-105 – Actions With Limitation of Three Years The statute covers claims “founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied,” and courts have long read that to include tort liability for bodily injury caused by someone else’s negligence. Property damage from the same incident runs on the same three-year track, so a crash that injures you and totals your car produces two claims sharing one deadline.
The clock starts on the date the injury happens. A collision on March 10, 2026 gives you until March 10, 2029 to file your complaint in circuit court. One day late is fatal: courts routinely dismiss late-filed cases with prejudice, which means you cannot refile.
Two Years for Medical Malpractice
Claims against healthcare providers run on a tighter clock. Arkansas Code 16-114-203 requires a medical malpractice lawsuit to be filed within two years of the date the wrongful act occurred.2Justia. Arkansas Code 16-114-203 – Statute of Limitations The accrual date is the date of the medical error itself, not the date symptoms appeared or a diagnosis was given. That distinction catches people often, because many medical injuries don’t become obvious until months or years after the mistake.
The one statutory exception is a foreign object left inside the body during surgery. If a sponge or instrument is left behind and not discovered within the two-year period, you have one year from the date you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) the object to file.2Justia. Arkansas Code 16-114-203 – Statute of Limitations Outside that narrow scenario, the two-year barrier holds.
Younger Children Get Longer
If the child was nine or younger when the medical error occurred, the lawsuit can be filed until the later of the child’s eleventh birthday or two years from the date of the error.2Justia. Arkansas Code 16-114-203 – Statute of Limitations If the injury wasn’t discoverable before the child turned eleven, the deadline extends to two years after discovery or the child’s nineteenth birthday, whichever comes first. These rules override the general minor-tolling provisions when the claim is medical.
Three Years for Product Liability, With a Discovery Rule
Injuries caused by defective products have their own statute. Arkansas Code 16-116-203 sets a three-year deadline after the injury or damage occurs.3Justia. Arkansas Code 16-116-203 – Limitation on Actions The length is the same as the general injury deadline, but accrual works differently. Arkansas courts apply a discovery rule to product claims, so the three-year clock may not start until you knew or reasonably should have known the product caused your injury. That matters for things like pharmaceutical side effects or slowly failing medical devices, where the link between product and harm isn’t immediately clear. The general personal injury statute, by contrast, typically starts on the date of the incident.
Wrongful Death: Three Years From the Date of Death
If someone dies because of another party’s negligence, the family has three years to file, and the clock runs from the date of death rather than the date of the wrongful act.4Justia. Arkansas Code 16-62-102 – Wrongful Death Actions – Survival When the injury and death happen the same day, the distinction doesn’t matter. When someone lingers for weeks or months after an accident before dying, the three-year period starts later than it would for a personal injury claim.
The lawsuit must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate. If no personal representative has been appointed, the heirs at law can bring the action instead.4Justia. Arkansas Code 16-62-102 – Wrongful Death Actions – Survival Families sometimes lose valuable time waiting for an appointment, so opening the estate promptly is worth prioritizing.
If a wrongful death case is voluntarily dismissed (a nonsuit), the family gets one year from the date of dismissal to refile, even if the original three-year window has expired.4Justia. Arkansas Code 16-62-102 – Wrongful Death Actions – Survival
When the Clock Pauses: Minors and Incapacity
Arkansas Code 16-56-116 tolls the statute of limitations for people who can’t reasonably protect their own legal rights. Anyone who is under twenty-one or who is legally incapacitated at the time of injury gets extra time to file.5Justia. Arkansas Code 16-56-116 – Persons Under Disabilities at Time of Accrual of Action
For minors, the mechanics are straightforward. Arkansas defines “full age” as eighteen.6Justia. Arkansas Code 9-25-101 – Age of Majority The tolling statute then gives the person three years after reaching full age to file. A standard personal injury claim by any child injured before eighteen generally has a deadline of the child’s twenty-first birthday. A five-year-old and a seventeen-year-old injured the day before their birthday share the same effective deadline.
For an adult with a mental disability that prevents them from understanding their legal rights, the clock stays paused for as long as the incapacity lasts. Once it’s removed, the standard filing period resumes. If someone has multiple qualifying disabilities at the time of injury, the period doesn’t start until all of them are resolved.5Justia. Arkansas Code 16-56-116 – Persons Under Disabilities at Time of Accrual of Action The disability must exist at the time the injury occurs. Becoming incapacitated later, after the statute has already started running, does not trigger this tolling.
Claims Against State or Local Government
Suing a state or local government body in Arkansas is a different animal. Arkansas Code 21-9-301 declares that counties, cities, school districts, and all other political subdivisions are immune from tort liability except to the extent they carry liability insurance.7Justia. Arkansas Code 21-9-301 – Tort Liability – Immunity Declared If the entity doesn’t carry insurance covering the type of claim you’re bringing, there may be no path to recovery at all.
Claims against the state itself (as opposed to a local government) go through the Arkansas Claims Commission under Arkansas Code 19-10-201 and related provisions. The Commission has its own filing rules, and the date it actually receives your filing controls, not the date you put it in the mail. Because government claims combine immunity questions, insurance coverage analysis, and separate administrative procedure, they’re among the most time-sensitive injury matters in the state. Getting professional guidance early is worth the cost when a government entity is on the other side.
Filing on Time Isn’t the Whole Picture
A timely lawsuit is necessary, not sufficient. Arkansas uses a modified comparative fault system under Arkansas Code 16-55-216: the court or jury assigns a percentage of fault to each party, and your damages are reduced by your own percentage.8Justia. Arkansas Code 16-55-216 – Comparative Fault If your fault equals or exceeds the defendant’s, you recover nothing. In a two-party case, that puts the cutoff at 50% on your side. Insurance adjusters know the threshold and will push hard on contributory fault, so what you say at the scene, in medical records, and to insurers can shape the result as much as the deadline itself.