Possessing an instrument of crime in Arkansas is a Class A misdemeanor that carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-102 – Possessing Instrument of Crime2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount The misdemeanor itself is only part of the picture. These charges almost always ride alongside something heavier — burglary, assault, drug distribution, felon-in-possession of a firearm — and the combined exposure is where the real sentencing risk comes from.
What the State Has to Prove
The offense lives in Arkansas Code 5-73-102. A person commits it by possessing an instrument of crime with a purpose to employ it criminally.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-102 – Possessing Instrument of Crime An “instrument of crime,” defined in Section 5-73-101, is anything manifestly designed, made, adapted, or commonly used for a criminal purpose.4Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-101 – Definitions
That definition sweeps in a lot. Lock-bypass tools designed for breaking in. A kitchen knife adapted with taped grip for a robbery. And ordinary objects like crowbars, bolt cutters, gloves, duct tape, or digital scales that have countless lawful uses but turn up repeatedly in criminal cases. Owning any of these is legal. What makes the possession criminal is the purpose behind it, and that is what the state has to prove.
Arkansas does not have a standalone “possession of burglary tools” statute. The instrument-of-crime charge is how prosecutors reach that conduct.
How Prosecutors Prove Criminal Purpose
Nobody admits their plans in advance, so purpose gets proved through circumstances. Arkansas juries are allowed to infer intent from the surrounding facts: where the item was found, what else was with it, the time of day, whether the defendant had a lawful reason to be where they were, and whether they offered a plausible explanation for the object.
A crowbar in a contractor’s truck at a jobsite reads differently from the same crowbar in a backpack behind a closed storefront at 2 a.m. Add a flashlight, gloves, and a ski mask to that backpack and the inference tightens further. Each item is legal on its own; the combination is what prosecutors argue to the jury. Courts look at the totality of the circumstances rather than any one object in isolation.
Prior convictions can also feed the intent analysis. A defendant with earlier burglary convictions caught with prying tools near a closed business has a harder inference problem than someone with no record.
Possession: Actual and Constructive
Before purpose matters, the state has to prove you possessed the item. Arkansas recognizes two kinds of possession. Actual possession means the item is on you or in your hand. Constructive possession means you had the ability and intent to control it even without holding it.
Most courtroom fights happen in the constructive-possession zone. The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant exercised care, control, and management over the item. In a shared space like a car with several passengers or an apartment with multiple residents, mere proximity is not enough. Courts weigh whether the item was in plain view, whether it sat near the defendant’s personal belongings, whether the defendant owned or controlled the vehicle or residence, and whether the defendant behaved suspiciously when police arrived.5Justia. Larry Walker v. State of Arkansas
This matters most for passengers. If a crowbar turns up under the driver’s seat and you were in the back, the state has a real problem tying it to you unless something else makes the connection.
Penalties and How the Charge Stacks
Standing alone, possessing an instrument of crime is a Class A misdemeanor: up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount It rarely stands alone. A crowbar classified as an instrument of crime alongside a Class D felony breaking-or-entering charge substantially increases total exposure and complicates any plea negotiation.6Justia. Arkansas Code 5-39-202 – Breaking or Entering
When the instrument is a firearm, prosecutors often add Arkansas Code 5-73-120, which makes it a Class A misdemeanor to carry a weapon with a purpose to use it unlawfully against another person.7Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-120 – Carrying a Weapon Filed together with the instrument-of-crime charge, that effectively doubles the misdemeanor exposure.
The more serious firearm overlap is Arkansas Code 5-73-103, which bars possession by convicted felons, people adjudicated mentally ill, and those involuntarily committed. Penalties escalate based on history:8Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-103 – Possession of Firearms by Certain Persons
- Class B felony where the defendant has a prior violent felony, a prior felony involving a weapon, a prior conviction under this same statute, or the current possession involves committing another crime.
- Class D felony where the defendant has a prior felony conviction that doesn’t trigger the Class B criteria.
- Class A misdemeanor for all other violations.
A convicted felon caught with a handgun during an attempted robbery can face the Class B felony version of 5-73-103, the robbery charge, and the instrument-of-crime misdemeanor on top. That combination produces real prison time.
Forfeiture of Firearms and Vehicles
Criminal penalties are not the end of it. Arkansas Code 5-73-130 requires that a firearm unlawfully possessed by a person under 18 be seized and makes it subject to forfeiture after adjudication or conviction. The statute reaches further for vehicles: if a felon or a minor unlawfully possesses a firearm in a vehicle, both the firearm and the vehicle can be forfeited.9Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-130 – Seizure and Forfeiture of Firearm Losing a car on top of a conviction catches many people off guard.
Defenses Worth Taking Seriously
Defending the charge means attacking one of the two statutory requirements. If the state cannot prove both possession and criminal purpose, the charge fails.
Attacking Criminal Purpose
The most common defense is a legitimate reason for having the item. A crowbar in a maintenance worker’s truck. Lockpicks carried by a licensed locksmith. A digital scale used by someone who sells goods by weight. A plausible lawful explanation makes proving purpose beyond a reasonable doubt genuinely difficult.
Context cuts both ways. A lawful reason for a crowbar loses weight when it was found next to a ski mask outside a jewelry store at 3 a.m. The strongest defenses address the full picture, not just the object.
Attacking Possession
In constructive-possession cases, the defense often argues the defendant had no knowledge of or control over the item. Arkansas courts have held that joint occupancy of a vehicle alone does not establish constructive possession — the state needs more.5Justia. Larry Walker v. State of Arkansas If the item was hidden, sat away from the defendant’s personal effects, and the defendant was neither driver nor owner of the car, possession becomes hard to prove.
Fourth Amendment Challenges
How police found the item matters as much as what they found. Officers need probable cause to search a vehicle or a person and generally need a warrant to search a home. If the search violated the Fourth Amendment, the defense can move to suppress. Without the physical evidence, the state usually has no case. Evidence from an unlawful stop, an improper vehicle search, or an expired warrant can be excluded entirely.
Sealing an Instrument-of-Crime Conviction
Arkansas allows most misdemeanor convictions to be sealed. Under Arkansas Code 16-90-904, a court must grant expungement of a misdemeanor conviction unless clear and convincing evidence shows it should not be sealed.10Justia. Arkansas Code 16-90-904 – Procedure for Sealing of Records The statute lists specific misdemeanor exceptions, including negligent homicide, certain battery offenses, sexual offenses, domestic battering, and DWI. Possessing an instrument of crime is not on that list.
For the excluded offenses, expungement is available after a five-year waiting period following completion of the sentence. For an eligible misdemeanor like this one, the path is more straightforward, though you still have to file a petition with the court. Filing fees vary by county and generally run a few hundred dollars. A sealed record can matter for employment, housing, and professional licensing, so filing once you qualify is worth doing.