Ark. Code Ann. § 16-93-614 (2026)

1. As used in this section and §§ 16-93-615 — 16-93-617, “felonies” means those crimes classified as Class Y felonies, Class A felonies, Class B felonies, Class C felonies, Class D felonies, or unclassified felonies by the laws of this state.
2. 1. A person who committed a felony before January 1, 1994, and who was convicted and incarcerated for that felony shall be eligible for release on parole under this section and §§ 16-93-615 — 16-93-617 in accordance with the parole eligibility law in effect at the time the crime was committed.
   2. A person who committed a target offense under the Community Punishment Act, § 16-93-1201 et seq., before January 1, 1994, and who has not been sentenced to a term of incarceration may waive the right to be released under the parole eligibility law in effect at the time the crime was committed and shall become eligible for judicial transfer pursuant to the transfer provisions provided in subdivision (c)(2) of this section.
   3. A person who has committed a felony who is within a target group as currently defined under § 16-93-1202(10) and who is released on parole shall be eligible, pursuant to rules established by the Parole Board, for commitment to a community correction facility if he or she is found to be in violation of any of his or her parole conditions, unless the parole violation constitutes a nontarget felony offense.
3. A person who commits a felony on or after January 1, 1994, and who shall be convicted and incarcerated for that felony shall be eligible for transfer to community correction as follows:
   1. 1. An inmate under sentence of death or life imprisonment without parole shall not be eligible for transfer, but may be pardoned or have his or her sentence commuted by the Governor as provided by law.
      2. An inmate sentenced to life imprisonment shall not be eligible for transfer unless his or her sentence is commuted to a term of years by executive clemency.
      3. Upon commutation, an inmate shall be eligible for transfer as provided in this section;
   2. 1. 1. 1. An offender convicted of a target offense under the Community Correction Act, § 16-93-1201 et seq., may be committed to the Division of Correction and judicially transferred to the Division of Community Correction by specific provision in the commitment that the trial court order such a transfer.
            2. No other offender is eligible for transfer to a Division of Community Correction facility.
         2. A copy of the commitment shall be forwarded immediately to the Division of Correction and to the Division of Community Correction.
         3. In the event that an offender is sentenced to the Division of Correction without judicial transfer on one (1) sentence and concurrently sentenced to the Division of Correction with judicial transfer on another sentence, the offender shall remain in the Division of Correction, and the sentence with judicial transfer may be discharged in the same manner as that of an offender transferred back to the Division of Correction.
      2. The Division of Community Correction shall take over supervision of the offender in accordance with the order of the court.
      3. The Division of Community Correction shall provide for the appropriate disposition of the offender as expeditiously as practicable under rules developed by the Board of Corrections.
      4. The offender shall not be transported to the Division of Correction on the initial placement in a Division of Community Correction facility pursuant to a judicial transfer.
      5. An offender who is transferred back to the Division of Correction for disciplinary reasons may be considered for transfer to Division of Community Correction supervision after earning good-time credit equal to one-half (½) of the remainder of his or her sentence.
      6. An offender who is sentenced after July 31, 2007, and who is transferred back to the Division of Correction for administrative reasons is eligible for transfer to Division of Community Correction supervision in the same manner as an offender who is sentenced to the Division of Correction without a judicial transfer to the Division of Community Correction; and
   3. 1. Every other classified or unclassified felon who is incarcerated therefor shall be eligible for transfer to community correction after having served one-third (1/3) or one-half (½), with credit for meritorious good time, of his or her sentence depending on the seriousness determination made by the Arkansas Sentencing Commission, or one-half (½), with credit for meritorious good time, of the time to which his or her sentence is commuted by executive clemency.
      2. For example, a six-year sentence with optimal meritorious good-time credits will make the offender eligible for transfer in one (1) year if he or she is required to serve one-third (1/3) of his or her sentence, or one and one-half (1½) years if he or she is required to serve one-half (½) of his or her sentence.
4. Except as provided for under § 16-93-621, for an offense committed before, on, or after March 20, 2017, a person who was a minor at the time of committing an offense listed under subsection (c) of this section is eligible for release on parole under this section.

History. Acts 2011, No. 570, § 99; 2017, No. 539, § 11; 2017, No. 1029, § 2; 2019, No. 315, §§ 1309, 1310; 2019, No. 910, § 914.

A.C.R.C. Notes. Acts 2011, No. 570, § 1, provided: “The intent of this act is to implement comprehensive measures designed to reduce recidivism, hold offenders accountable, and contain correction costs.”

Acts 2017, No. 539, § 1, provided: “Title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Fair Sentencing of Minors Act of 2017’.”

Acts 2017, No. 539, § 2, provided: “Legislative intent.

“(a)(1) The General Assembly acknowledges and recognizes that minors are constitutionally different from adults and that these differences must be taken into account when minors are sentenced for adult crimes.

“(2) As the United States Supreme Court quoted in Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012), ‘only a relatively small proportion of adolescents’ who engage in illegal activity ‘develop entrenched patterns of problem behavior,’ and ‘developments in psychology and brain science continue to show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds,’ including ‘parts of the brain involved in behavior control’.

“(3) Minors are more vulnerable to negative influences and outside pressures, including from their family and peers, and they have limited control over their own environment and lack the ability to extricate themselves from horrific, crime-producing settings.

“(4) The United States Supreme Court has emphasized through its cases in Miller, Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), and Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), that ‘the distinctive attributes of youth diminish the penological justifications for imposing the harshest sentences on juvenile offenders, even when they commit terrible crimes’.

“(5) Youthfulness both lessens a juvenile's moral culpability and enhances the prospect that, as a youth matures into an adult and neurological development occurs, these individuals can become contributing members of society.

“(b) In the wake of these United States Supreme Court decisions and the emerging juvenile brain and behavioral development science, several states, including Texas, Utah, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Alaska, West Virginia, Colorado, Hawaii, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachussets, and the District of Columbia, have eliminated the sentence of life without parole for minors.

“(c) It is the intent of the General Assembly to eliminate life without parole as a sentencing option for minors and to create more age-appropriate sentencing standards in compliance with the United States Constitution for minors who commit serious crimes.”

Amendments. The 2017 amendment by No. 539 added (d).

The 2017 amendment by No. 1029 substituted “§ 16-93-621” for “§ 16-93-619” in (d).

The 2019 amendment by No. 315 deleted “and regulations” following “rules” in (b)(3) and (c)(2)(C).

The 2019 amendment by No. 910 substituted “Division of Correction” for “Department of Correction” and “Division of Community Correction” for “Department of Community Correction” throughout (c)(2).