Class D Felony in Arkansas: Penalties, Offenses & Defenses

A Class D felony in Arkansas is the lowest felony classification in the state, punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.¹² It still counts as a felony, which means a conviction brings a permanent federal firearms ban and follows you through background checks for employment, housing, and licensing. Common examples include theft of property valued between $1,000 and $5,000, possessing less than two grams of a drug like methamphetamine or cocaine, and tampering with a non-court public record.

Prison Time and Fines

A Class D felony carries a maximum prison sentence of six years. There is no statutory minimum, so a judge has real discretion over how much time, if any, a defendant actually serves.¹ First-time offenders often receive less than the maximum.

Compared to the other felony classes, Class D is the lightest. A Class C felony runs three to ten years, a Class B carries five to twenty, a Class A six to thirty, and a Class Y ten to forty years or life.

The fine cap is $10,000.² That is on top of any restitution the court orders, so the full financial consequence often exceeds the fine itself.

Can You Get Probation for a Class D Felony

Yes, in most cases. Arkansas law allows judges to suspend the sentence or impose probation for most Class D offenses. The statute that lists offenses ineligible for probation names capital murder, treason, Class Y felonies, DWI, second-degree murder, and a few other specific crimes. Class D felonies are generally not on that list.³

There’s one hard cutoff. If you have two or more prior felony convictions, the court cannot suspend your sentence or grant probation at all.

Felony probation usually comes with conditions: check-ins with a probation officer, drug testing, permission to leave the state, employment requirements, supervision fees, and payment of any restitution. Violating a condition can lead the court to revoke probation and impose the original prison sentence. Probation can run as long as the maximum prison term, meaning up to six years for a Class D felony.

Some defendants are eligible for transfer to a community correction center, serving part of the sentence in a supervised community setting rather than prison. Eligibility depends on the specific offense and its seriousness ranking.⁴

How Prior Felonies Change the Sentence

A clean record and a history of felonies produce very different outcomes for the same Class D charge.

Two or three prior felony convictions push the maximum from six years to twelve.
Four or more prior felonies raise the ceiling to fifteen years.
If the Class D offense is a violent felony and you have two or more prior violent felony convictions, the sentence becomes a mandatory twenty to forty years.⁵

Habitual offender enhancements can turn a lower-level felony into a sentence that rivals much higher classifications.

Common Class D Felony Offenses

Theft of Property

Stealing property valued between $1,000 and $5,000 is a Class D felony under Arkansas theft law. Theft of property worth $1,000 or less can also become a Class D felony if the person has a prior theft conviction within the past ten years. During a declared state of emergency, the threshold drops: stealing property worth at least $100 but less than $500 is enough for a Class D charge.⁶

Drug Possession

Possession amounts drive the charge. Less than two grams of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, or another Schedule I or II controlled substance is a Class D felony. Schedule III substances in amounts between two and twenty-eight grams qualify as well, as do Schedule IV or V substances between twenty-eight and two hundred grams. For marijuana, possessing four ounces to less than ten pounds is a Class D felony.⁷ Possessing any controlled substance while incarcerated bumps the charge up to the next higher felony class.

Tampering With a Public Record

Falsifying, altering, destroying, or concealing a public record is a Class D felony when the record is not a court record.⁸ If the record is a court record, the charge becomes a Class C felony, and if someone broke into a building to get to that court record, it becomes a Class B felony.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

The prison term and fine are often the smallest part of a Class D felony’s long-term impact.

Firearms

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition.⁹ Every Arkansas Class D felony meets that threshold, so the ban applies to every conviction. It covers all firearms and ammunition, applies nationwide, and has no automatic expiration. Violating it is a separate federal crime carrying up to fifteen years in prison.

Voting

Arkansas restores voting rights automatically once you fully discharge your sentence, including any probation, parole, or supervised release.¹⁰ You’ll need your discharge letter to re-register. Until that discharge happens, you cannot vote, and on a long probation term that gap can stretch for years.

Employment, Housing, and Licensing

Most employers and landlords run background checks, and a felony conviction will appear on them. Arkansas has no statewide “ban the box” law for private employers. A Class D felony on your record makes it harder to get hired, find housing, and obtain professional licenses. Some licensing boards deny applications outright based on a felony, regardless of its class.

Federal Student Aid

The FAFSA no longer asks about criminal history, so a felony record does not automatically disqualify you from federal financial aid. People who are no longer incarcerated can qualify for federal student loans by completing the standard FAFSA. Students currently in a correctional facility remain ineligible for federal student loans but may qualify for Pell Grants if enrolled in an eligible prison education program.

Sealing a Class D Felony Record

Arkansas allows most Class D felonies to be sealed under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013. The offense must not be a violent felony or a sex crime against a minor. Records that can never be sealed include Class Y felonies, Class A or B felonies that are not drug offenses, manslaughter, violent felonies, and sex offenses involving victims under eighteen.

For most eligible Class D felonies, you can petition the court to seal the record immediately after completing every part of your sentence, including probation, and paying any fines and court costs. Once sealed, the conviction no longer appears on standard background checks. Sealing is not the same as expungement; the record still exists and can be accessed by law enforcement and certain licensing boards, but it is hidden from most public view.

Defenses to a Class D Felony Charge

Several lines of defense are common in Class D cases.

Challenging intent. Many Class D offenses require the prosecution to prove a specific mental state. Tampering with a public record, for example, requires proof that the person acted with the purpose of impairing the record’s accuracy or availability.⁸ Without that intent, the charge fails.

Challenging the evidence. Drug cases often turn on how the evidence was collected. An illegal search can lead to the drugs being suppressed, and the case often collapses without the physical evidence. Defense attorneys also challenge chain of custody, lab testing procedures, and whether the substance actually tested positive for a controlled substance. For theft charges, disputing the stated value of the property can mean the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor.

Procedural violations. If police failed to give Miranda warnings before a custodial interrogation, statements may be inadmissible. A lack of probable cause for the initial stop can taint the whole case.

Negotiating a reduced charge. Even with strong evidence, an attorney may negotiate a plea to a Class A misdemeanor instead of a Class D felony. The difference is substantial: a misdemeanor avoids the federal firearms ban, avoids most professional licensing disqualifications, and is far easier to seal. Prosecutors are sometimes willing to reduce charges for first-time offenders, especially when the conduct falls near the line between felony and misdemeanor. For theft charges, pushing the property valuation below $1,000 drops the case under the felony threshold entirely.⁶

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence
2
FindLaw. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines
3
FindLaw. Arkansas Code 5-4-301 – Suspension or Probation
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 16-93-614 – Parole Eligibility
5
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-501 – Habitual Offenders Sentencing for Felony
6
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-36-103 – Theft of Property
7
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-64-419 – Possession of a Controlled Substance
8
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-54-121 – Tampering With a Public Record
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas. If I Am Convicted of a Felony in Federal Court, Can I Vote?