Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-103 (2026)

Sentences without notice void

✓ current as of May 2026
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All sentences made, rendered, or pronounced by any of the courts of the state against anyone without actual or constructive notice, and all proceedings had under such sentences, shall be absolutely null and void.

History. Acts 1859, No. 147, § 1, p. 172; C. & M. Dig., § 6238; Pope's Dig., § 8194; A.S.A. 1947, § 29-107.

Publisher's Notes. Acts 1859, No. 147, § 1, p. 172, is also codified as § 16-65-108.

Research References

Ark. L. Rev.

Comment, Service of Process — Default Judgment, etc., 40 Ark. L. Rev. 381.

Case Notes

Invalid Notice.

Where a resident defendant is served with constructive service, the proceedings are null and void. Barksdale v. Barksdale, 170 Ark. 228, 279 S.W. 789 (1926).

Judge's attempt to reduce a one-year sentence following a contempt order to six months was null and void where the trial judge failed to notify either party before amending his original order. Linder v. Weaver, 364 Ark. 319, 219 S.W.3d 151 (2005).

Cited: Franz v. Lockhart, 700 F. Supp. 1005 (E.D. Ark. 1988).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 2005–2020 · leading case: Harlon Finney v. Wendy Kelley, Dir., Arkansas Dep't of Corr., 2020 Ark. 145 (Ark. 2020).
Harlon Finney v. Wendy Kelley, Dir., Arkansas Dep't of Corr., 2020 Ark. 145 (Ark. 2020). · cites it 2× “” Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-103 . This circumstance alone satisfies this court’s rule that habeas relief is available only to those who can show they are illegally detained through an error on the face of the confinement order or a wholesale lack of jurisdiction by the issuing…”
Johnson v. Kelley, 577 S.W.3d 710 (Ark. 2019). · cites it 2× “Finally, a brief review of Johnson's charges suggests that, had he known he *714 would be required to serve 100 percent of the forty-five-sentence he had been offered by the prosecution (instead of 50 percent, as he was told by his attorney), he may very well have elected to go…”
Linder v. Weaver, 219 S.W.3d 151 (Ark. 2005). · cites it 6× “Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-90-103 (1997) provides as follows: All sentences made, rendered, or pronounced by any of the courts of the state against anyone without actual or constructive notice, and all proceedings had under such sentences, shall be absolutely null and void.”
Eric Johnson v. Wendy Kelley, Dir., Arkansas Dep't of Corr., 2019 Ark. 230 (Ark. 2019). · cites it 2× “” Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-103 . 6 Finally, a brief review of Johnson’s charges suggests that, had he known he would be required to serve 100 percent of the forty-five-sentence he had been offered by the prosecution (instead of 50 percent, as he was told by his attorney), he may…”
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