Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-81-303 (2026)

Definition

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaArk. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. The term “fresh pursuit” as used in this subchapter shall include:
  1. Fresh pursuit as defined by the common law; and
  2. The pursuit of a person:
    1. Who has committed a felony or is reasonably suspected of having committed a felony in this state;
    2. Who has committed or attempted to commit any criminal offense in this state in the presence of the arresting law enforcement officer referred to in § 16-81-301; or
    3. For whom the officer holds a warrant of arrest for a criminal offense.
2. It shall also include the pursuit of a person suspected of having committed a supposed felony in this state, though no felony has actually been committed, if there is reasonable ground for so believing.
Fresh pursuit as used in this subchapter shall not necessarily imply instant pursuit, but pursuit without unreasonable delay.

History. Acts 1941, No. 19, § 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 43-503; Acts 2005, No. 1994, § 251.

Amendments. The 2005 amendment inserted “law enforcement” in (a)(1)(B)(ii).

Case Notes

Jurisdiction.

Where campus patrolman had witnessed traffic offenses and could form a reasonable belief that the defendant was intoxicated, such firsthand information and fact that he began pursuit within his jurisdiction, demonstrated that the patrolman was well within the bounds of his authority when he pursued the defendant for four blocks in the course of fresh pursuit and made the arrest outside the patrolman's jurisdiction. Smith v. City of Little Rock, 305 Ark. 168, 806 S.W.2d 371 (1991).

Misdemeanors.

The definition of fresh pursuit is broad enough to embrace misdemeanors. Smith v. City of Little Rock, 305 Ark. 168, 806 S.W.2d 371 (1991).

Warrantless Arrest.

Evidence sufficient to justify a warrantless arrest by police based upon exigent circumstances, or upon the “fresh pursuit” exception as defined by this section. Thorne v. State, 274 Ark. 102, 622 S.W.2d 178 (1981), cert. denied, Thorne v. Arkansas, 455 U.S. 1024, 102 S. Ct. 1726 (1982).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 1991–1992 · leading case: Smith v. City of Little Rock, 806 S.W.2d 371 (Ark. 1991).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Smith v. City of Little Rock, 806 S.W.2d 371 (Ark. 1991). · cites it 2× “” Ark. Code Ann. § 16-81-303 (1987). This definition is easily broad enough to embrace misdemeanors.”

Brown v. State, 827 S.W.2d 174 (Ark. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 4× “, whether a *179 police officer, who, while within his jurisdiction, observes a misdemeanor being committed outside his jurisdiction, has the authority to arrest under Ark.Code Ann. § 16-81-301 (1987). There are no Arkansas cases which so define the extent of the "fresh pursuit"…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.