A petition to vacate in Arkansas is a written request asking the court that entered a judgment to set it aside. Civil judgments are challenged under Rule 60 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, default judgments under Rule 55(c), and criminal convictions under Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure. Most civil petitions must be filed within 90 days of the judgment, but fraud, lack of jurisdiction, and improper service can be raised later.
Civil Grounds Under Rule 60
Rule 60 gives you three different pathways, and the one you use depends on what went wrong and how long ago it happened.
Clerical Mistakes, Any Time
Rule 60(a) lets the court fix clerical errors at any point, with no filing deadline. The wrong name on the order, a damages figure that doesn’t match the court’s findings, a typo in a date. It does not reach legal errors in the court’s reasoning. The purpose is narrow: make the written record match what the court actually decided.
Mistakes and Miscarriage of Justice, Within 90 Days
Rule 60(b) gives the court broad authority to vacate or modify a judgment within 90 days of its filing with the clerk. It covers mistakes, errors in the proceedings, and situations where leaving the judgment in place would be a miscarriage of justice.1Administrative Office of the Courts. Appellate Update – Spring 2022 Excusable neglect sits here. If a medical emergency or something comparable kept you from a hearing or deadline and you acted reasonably once it passed, the court may grant relief. Forgetting about the case or hoping it would resolve itself will not qualify.
Grounds That Survive the 90-Day Deadline
Rule 60(c) lets the court vacate a judgment after 90 days, but only on specific grounds.
Fraud is the most frequently invoked. The fraud has to be in how the judgment itself was obtained, not just that a witness lied on the stand. Arkansas distinguishes extrinsic fraud (being kept away from court, false promises of a compromise, an attorney who betrays a client) from intrinsic fraud (perjury during testimony). Only extrinsic fraud supports relief under Rule 60(c)(4), and you must prove it by clear and convincing evidence.2Justia. Wiley H. Grubbs v. William C. Hall
A judgment can also be vacated as void, most often because the court never had jurisdiction over the defendant. Valid service of process is required for the court to have power over you, and Arkansas requires the service rules to be followed exactly.3GovInfo. Dunlap v. Arkansas State University If you were never served, or were served at the wrong address, the judgment can be void no matter how much time has passed.
Newly discovered evidence is another Rule 60(c) ground. The evidence has to be something you could not have found earlier through reasonable effort, and it has to be significant enough that it probably would have changed the outcome.
Default Judgments
A default judgment is entered when one party never responds to the lawsuit and the court rules for the other side without a trial. These are among the most commonly vacated judgments in Arkansas because defendants often have a legitimate explanation: they never received the papers, the papers went to an old address, or they did not understand the deadline.
Rule 55(c) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure lets the court set aside a default judgment for good cause. Courts generally look at three things: whether you had a legitimate reason for not responding, whether you moved quickly once you learned about the judgment, and whether you have an actual defense to the underlying claim. That last factor matters more than people expect. A perfect excuse for missing the deadline rarely wins the day if you have no real argument against the lawsuit itself.
If the default is void because you were never properly served, Rule 60(c) applies and no fixed deadline cuts you off. If you were served and simply failed to respond, the 90-day Rule 60(b) window governs, and judges are much more sympathetic to defendants who come forward within weeks rather than months.
Criminal Convictions Under Rule 37
Challenging a criminal conviction is a separate process with narrower grounds and stricter rules. Rule 37 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure lets a person serving a sentence petition the sentencing court to vacate or correct the judgment on four grounds: that the sentence violated the U.S. or Arkansas Constitution, that the court lacked jurisdiction, that the sentence exceeded the legal maximum, or that the conviction is otherwise subject to collateral attack.4Justia. Matter of Reinstatement of Rule 37 – Section: Rule 37.1 Scope of Remedy
In practice, the most common claims are ineffective assistance of counsel (an attorney who failed to investigate, missed obvious defenses, or gave bad advice on a plea) and prosecutorial misconduct. If the prosecution withheld evidence favorable to the defense, that may violate the rule in Brady v. Maryland, which held that suppressing material evidence denies the defendant due process regardless of good or bad faith.5Justia. Brady v. Maryland 373 US 83 (1963)
Rule 37 deadlines are strict and offer no general exception for extraordinary circumstances. If you appealed the conviction, the petition is due within 60 days of the appellate court’s mandate. If the appeal was dismissed, 60 days from dismissal. If you pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial and did not appeal, 90 days from the date judgment was entered.6Justia. Matter of Reinstatement of Rule 37 – Section: Rule 37.2 Commencement of Proceedings Missing these dates will almost certainly bar the claim. Rule 37 also requires you to raise every available ground in your first petition. Anything you leave out, or that was already decided or knowingly waived at trial, cannot be raised later.
DNA Testing Is a Separate Path
If you believe forensic testing could prove your innocence, Arkansas has a separate statute. Under the Arkansas DNA Testing Act, a convicted person can petition for testing of specific evidence that was never tested or that can be retested with improved technology.7Justia. Arkansas Code 16-112-202 – Form of Motion If the results exclude you as the DNA source, the court can order a new trial, but only if the results combined with the other evidence create compelling evidence that an acquittal would result.8FindLaw. Arkansas Code 16-112-208 – Testing Procedures You do not need to be in custody to file.
What the Petition Must Contain
The petition is filed with the court that entered the original judgment. It identifies the case by number, names the parties, states the specific legal ground with the applicable rule, and explains in plain terms why the judgment should be set aside.
For civil petitions, say exactly what you want: a new trial, dismissal, or correction of the judgment. If you rely on newly discovered evidence, explain why you could not have found it sooner and what difference it would have made. If you argue the judgment is void for lack of service, attach whatever shows that service failed.
Rule 37 petitions in criminal cases have extra formatting requirements. The petition must be verified with the petitioner’s notarized signature.9Administrative Office of the Courts. Civil and Criminal Benchbook 2022 Typed petitions cannot exceed ten pages, and the rule imposes specific limits on handwritten submissions including line counts, words per line, and margin widths.4Justia. Matter of Reinstatement of Rule 37 – Section: Rule 37.1 Scope of Remedy Petitions that fail these rules can be stricken without review.
Supporting Evidence
A petition without evidence behind it gets denied. What to attach depends on your ground:
- For improper service, provide an affidavit explaining where you actually lived at the relevant time, mail records, or testimony from someone who can confirm you were not at the address where service was attempted.
- For fraud, provide documents, emails, or sworn statements showing the opposing party fabricated evidence, concealed information, or deceived the court. Clear and convincing proof is the Arkansas standard, so a bare allegation is not enough.
- For newly discovered evidence, provide the evidence itself along with an explanation of when you found it and why earlier discovery was not possible.
- For ineffective assistance of counsel, provide records showing specific attorney errors: failure to file motions, failure to investigate witnesses, incorrect legal advice. General dissatisfaction with the outcome will not support the claim.
Filing, Service, and the Hearing
File the petition and supporting documents with the circuit court clerk in the county where the original judgment was entered. The clerk will set a hearing date.
After filing, serve a copy on the opposing party or their attorney. Service can be made by hand delivery, regular mail, commercial delivery service, or electronic transmission if the opposing attorney can receive it.10Administrative Office of the Courts. Supreme Court of Arkansas – Rule 5 Service and Filing One wrinkle matters: if more than 90 days have passed since the final judgment and you are serving a party directly rather than through counsel, you must use the more formal Rule 4 service requirements instead of the simpler Rule 5 methods.
Arkansas law requires the opposing party to receive reasonable notice in writing before the hearing.11Justia. Arkansas Code 16-60-201 – Motion – Notice The statute does not specify a number of days, so what counts as reasonable depends on the circumstances. Serving well in advance protects you from a procedural delay or dismissal.
At the hearing, you carry the burden of proof. The judge may allow oral argument, witness testimony, or additional documents. Be ready to explain not just the legal basis but why the facts support it. Judges hear these motions often and can tell a genuine grievance from a second bite at the apple.
Fee Waivers
Filing requires a fee paid to the circuit court clerk. The amount varies by county and case type, so call the clerk’s office in the county where the case was heard to confirm the current amount.
If you cannot afford the fee, Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 72 lets you petition to proceed in forma pauperis. The court weighs your income, assets, and the federal poverty guidelines. The 2026 guideline for a single-person household is $15,960 per year, though courts have discretion to grant waivers at somewhat higher income levels depending on the circumstances. Be ready to provide pay stubs, bank statements, or a sworn statement of your income and expenses.
What Happens If the Petition Is Granted or Denied
If the court grants the petition, the judgment is set aside, but the underlying case does not vanish. What follows depends on why the judgment was vacated. If a default is overturned for lack of service, you get the chance to respond and the case proceeds. If the judgment is vacated for fraud or newly discovered evidence, the court will usually order a new trial. Some parties use the reopened case to negotiate a settlement instead of relitigating.
The court can also grant partial relief, modifying parts of the judgment and leaving the rest in place. That might happen when a damages calculation was wrong but the liability finding was sound.
If the petition is denied, the original judgment stays in force and you must comply with its terms. You can appeal to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, but only by showing the trial court made a legal error or abused its discretion. The appeals court will not reweigh the facts. Filing an appeal does not automatically pause enforcement, so look into whether a stay is available while the appeal is pending.