Arkansas Writ of Possession: Objection Window and Lockout

An Arkansas writ of possession is a circuit court order directing the sheriff to remove a tenant and return the property to the landlord. It can issue as soon as five days after the tenant is served with the unlawful detainer complaint if no written objection is filed, and the sheriff then gives the tenant 24 hours to leave before performing a physical lockout.¹² One point worth knowing up front: the writ is not a final judgment. Arkansas law says that granting the writ does not finally adjudicate the parties’ rights, so the underlying case can continue even after the tenant is removed.

Grounds That Support a Writ

Before a landlord can ask for a writ, the situation has to fit one of the five unlawful detainer grounds in Arkansas law: holding over after a lease ends, refusing to leave after a written demand, nonpayment of rent, failing to maintain the property, or allowing it to become a nuisance.³

Each ground carries its own pre-filing notice. Nonpayment of rent requires a written three-day notice to quit. Other lease violations typically require at least 14 days’ written notice. Ending a month-to-month tenancy without any specific violation requires a full month. The landlord cannot shorten these windows or skip to filing the complaint. If the notice is wrong, the writ built on it is vulnerable.

Filing the Unlawful Detainer Complaint

Once the notice period runs out and the tenant is still there, the landlord files a complaint in circuit court. The complaint must identify the property, the occupants, and which ground applies. It has to be accompanied by a sworn affidavit stating that the landlord is lawfully entitled to possession and that the tenant is unlawfully holding the property after proper demand.¹ That affidavit is the sworn evidence the court relies on to move the case forward.

The filing fee for an original civil action in Arkansas circuit court is $165, though some counties charge more.⁴ After the clerk processes the paperwork, the court issues a summons along with a notice that a writ of possession will be sought. The tenant must be personally served with all of these documents. If the sheriff cannot locate the tenant within eight hours at the residence, the papers can be posted conspicuously on the front door.²

The Five-Day Objection Window

Service starts the clock. The tenant has five days, not counting Sundays or legal holidays, to file a written objection with the court.¹ What happens next depends on whether the tenant uses it.

If No Objection Is Filed

When the five days pass with no written objection, the court orders the clerk to immediately issue the writ of possession, and the sheriff executes it without any further hearing.¹ This is where most Arkansas evictions are actually decided. Tenants who assume the court date is weeks away, or who do not understand that the clock is already running, often lose possession without ever appearing before a judge.

If the Tenant Objects

A timely written objection triggers a possession hearing. The landlord has to schedule it and notify the tenant of the date, time, and place by certified mail.¹ At that hearing, the court decides whether the landlord is likely to succeed on the merits. If the landlord wins, the court orders the writ. If the tenant wins, the tenant stays in the home pending a full trial.

Even a tenant who loses the hearing has a path to stay. Within five days of the ruling, the tenant can ask the court to set “adequate security,” an amount paid to remain in the home until trial. The amount is usually equal to the unpaid rent owed. Once posted, the eviction is stayed until the court makes a final determination.

Common defenses raised at the hearing include defective or short notice, acceptance of rent after the alleged violation, improper service, and, for leases entered into or renewed after November 1, 2021, breach of the implied warranty of habitability.⁵ The warranty requires hot and cold running water, electricity, potable drinking water, functioning plumbing, a sound roof, and working heating and cooling. A landlord can also meet the warranty by giving the tenant a written defect checklist at move-in; if the tenant signs without noting a problem or fails to return the form within two business days, the landlord is deemed compliant on those items.

Service of the Writ and the 24-Hour Rule

Once the court issues the writ, the landlord delivers it to the county sheriff’s office for execution. The statutory fee for serving a writ is $30.⁶ In practice the full lockout often costs more. Some counties charge $120 or more for the complete process, so check with the local sheriff before assuming the statutory minimum is the whole bill.

The sheriff delivers a copy of the writ to the tenant or posts it on the front door if the tenant cannot be found within eight hours. From the moment of service, the tenant has exactly 24 hours to vacate and remove belongings.² Unlike the five-day objection window, this 24-hour period does not exclude weekends or holidays.

If the tenant is still there when the 24 hours expire, the sheriff returns to physically remove the occupants. The sheriff can forcibly remove locks or barriers and, if necessary, physically restrain anyone who interferes with the removal.² The landlord or a representative should be present to change the locks as soon as the sheriff clears the property.

What the Sheriff Does With the Tenant’s Belongings

The handling of the tenant’s property depends on whether the writ issued before or after a final judgment, and this is where many landlords get into trouble.

When the sheriff executes a writ under the unlawful detainer statute and the case has not reached a final judgment, the tenant’s belongings must be moved to a public warehouse or another reasonably safe storage location under the landlord’s control.² The storage requirement exists because the pre-judgment writ does not finally decide the case. If the tenant later wins at trial, the court orders the belongings returned, with storage costs charged to the landlord. If the landlord wins, the court orders the belongings sold in a commercially reasonable manner, with proceeds applied first to storage costs, then to any money judgment, and any excess returned to the tenant.

A separate statute governs property left behind after a lease has fully terminated. Once the lease ends voluntarily or involuntarily, items the tenant leaves behind are considered abandoned, and the landlord can dispose of them in any manner without further notice.⁷ All property left on the premises is also subject to a lien in the landlord’s favor for sums the tenant agreed to pay under the lease.⁸

The practical result: if the writ issued because the tenant simply did not respond, there is no final judgment yet, and the storage procedure applies. Throwing belongings in a dumpster the same day can create liability if the tenant later appears and contests the case.

Timeline From Notice to Lockout

For a nonpayment case where the tenant files no objection, the sequence typically runs like this:

Day 1–3: Landlord serves a written three-day notice to quit.
Day 4: If the tenant has not left, the landlord files the complaint, affidavit, and summons in circuit court and pays the filing fee.
Day 4–5: The sheriff serves the tenant with the complaint, affidavit, summons, and notice of intent to seek a writ of possession.
Days 5–10: The tenant has five days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, to file a written objection.
Day 11: With no objection on file, the court orders the clerk to issue the writ.
Day 11–12: The sheriff serves the writ, and the 24-hour countdown begins.
Day 12–13: If the tenant has not vacated, the sheriff performs the physical lockout.

In the best case for a landlord, the entire process from notice to lockout takes roughly two weeks. A written objection adds several weeks or more for the possession hearing. A tenant who loses the hearing but posts adequate security delays the eviction until the full trial. Sheriff’s office backlogs, common in the more populated counties, can stretch the timeline further.

What the Writ Does Not Decide

The writ returns possession. It does not resolve claims for back rent, damages, or counterclaims the tenant may have raised. Arkansas law explicitly treats the writ as something less than a final adjudication, so the underlying unlawful detainer case continues after the lockout until the court enters judgment on the merits. That is also why pre-judgment belongings have to be stored rather than discarded, and why a landlord who treats the lockout as the end of the case can still find themselves in court months later.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-60-307 – Proceedings in Court
2
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-60-310 – Execution of Writ of Possession
3
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-60-304 – Actions Constituting Unlawful Detainer
4
Arkansas Law Help. Filing for a Fee Waiver
5
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-17-502 – Implied Residential Warranty of Habitability
6
Justia. Arkansas Code 21-6-307 – Sheriffs
7
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-16-108 – Property Left on Premises After Termination of Lease
8
Arkansas Attorney General. Landlord And Tenant Rights