Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-211 (2026)

Bifurcated proceeding

✓ current as of May 2026

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1. In any case in which punitive damages are sought, any party may request a bifurcated proceeding at least ten (10) days prior to trial.
2. If a bifurcated proceeding has been requested by either party, then:
  1. The finder of fact first shall determine whether compensatory damages are to be awarded; and
  2. After a compensatory damages award determination, the finder of fact then shall determine whether and in what amount punitive damages will be awarded.
Evidence of the financial condition of the defendant and other evidence relevant only to punitive damages is not admissible with regard to any compensatory damages determination.

History. Acts 2003, No. 649, § 14.

Publisher's Notes. Ark. R. Civ. P. 42 was amended, effective April 1, 2015. Per 2015 Ark. 88, “[w]ith the adoption of the amendment to Rule 42, Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-211 is superseded pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 16-11-301.”

Research References

Ark. L. Rev.

Note, To Truly Reform We Must Be Informed: Davis v. Parham, the Separation of Powers Doctrine, and the Constitutionality of Tort Reform in Arkansas, 59 Ark. L. Rev. 781.

U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.

Sevawn Foster, Note: Constitutional Law — Arkansas’s Current Procedural Rulemaking Conundrum: Attempting to Quell the Political Discord, 37 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 105 (2014).

Case Notes

Evidence.

Because a medical-malpractice trial was bifurcated, the patient was not entitled to present evidence to support an award of punitive damages until the jury returned a verdict on liability as an award of actual damages was a predicate for the recovery of punitive damages. Poff v. Elkins, 2014 Ark. App. 663, 449 S.W.3d 315 (2014).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2014–2025 · leading case: In re Special Task Force, 2014 Ark. 5 (Ark. 2014).

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In re Special Task Force, 2014 Ark. 5 (Ark. 2014). · cites it 4× “, liability and amount, as does Section 14 of the Civil Justice Reform Act, codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-211 . However, the approach reflected in paragraph (2) is preferable.”

Poff v. Elkins, 2014 Ark. App. 663 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “Punitive Damages By stipulation of the parties and pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-55-211 (Repl.2005), the circuit court bifurcated the trial of compensatory and punitive damages.”

In re Special Task Force- proposed amends. to Ark. R. Civ. P. 11 & 12, 2014 Ark. 344 (Ark. 2014). · cites it 4× “The circuit court, in the exercise of its discretion, determines whether liability for punitive damages is to be decided in the first or second phase of the bifurcated proceeding.”

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.; & Aaron Marvell Foster v. Frank McMillion, Allen Jones, Carlton Pettus, Hunter Bokker, Bengi Bokker, & Zack Billingsley, 2025 Ark. App. 268 (Ark. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 3× “Ark. Code Ann. § 16-55-211 (Repl. 2005) (emphasis added).”

In re Ark. Rules of Civ. P. 11 & 42, 2015 Ark. 88 (Ark. 2015). · cites it 4× “The circuit court, in the exercise of its discretion, determines whether liability for punitive damages is to be decided in the first or second phase of the bifurcated proceeding.”

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