Ark. Code Ann. § 16-88-110 (2026)
Jurisdiction of counties — Kidnapping
- Where the offense consists of kidnapping, seizing, or confining a person without lawful authority, the jurisdiction shall be in the county in which the kidnapping, seizing, or confining was committed, or in any county in which it was continued.
- Whenever two (2) or more counties have jurisdiction of the same offense by this section, the county in which the defendant is first arrested shall proceed to try the offense, to the exclusion of the others.
History. Crim. Code, §§ 20, 21; C. & M. Dig., §§ 2877, 2878; Pope's Dig., §§ 3693, 3694; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 43-1416, 43-1417.
Case Notes
Multiple Crimes.
In a prosecution for capital murder where the victim was kidnapped in one county and murdered in another, venue was proper where the murder occurred. Fairchild v. State, 284 Ark. 289, 681 S.W.2d 380 (1984), cert. denied, Fairchild v. Arkansas, 471 U.S. 1111, 105 S. Ct. 2346 (1985).
Circuit Court in Jefferson County had jurisdiction to enter a judgment convicting defendant of a rape that occurred in Arkansas County where the offense was a continuing episode that began with the kidnapping of the female victim by two men in Jefferson County and ended with the gang rape of the victim in Arkansas County by defendant and several accomplices; the fact that defendant was acquitted of the offense that occurred in Jefferson County did not deprive the circuit court of jurisdiction. Cloird v. State, 352 Ark. 190, 99 S.W.3d 419 (2003).
Selection of Forum.
The state may elect in which county the offense may be prosecuted when jurisdiction is concurrent, and the right of selection of the forum continues until there is a final judgment; consequently, the effect of a second indictment in another county having jurisdiction in the same judicial district is to effect a relinquishment of the jurisdiction in the county where first indictment was returned. Bottom v. State, 155 Ark. 113, 244 S.W. 334 (Ark. 1922).