Ark. Code Ann. » Title 27 Chapter 16
Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303 (2026)

Driving while license cancelled, suspended, or revoked

✓ current as of May 2026
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    1. Any person whose driver's license or driving privilege as a resident or nonresident has been cancelled, suspended, or revoked as provided in this chapter and who drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this state while the license or privilege is cancelled, suspended, or revoked is guilty of a misdemeanor.
    2. Upon conviction, an offender shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two (2) days nor more than six (6) months, and there may be imposed in addition thereto a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500).
    1. The Office of Driver Services, upon receiving a record of the conviction of any person under this section upon a charge of driving a vehicle while the license of the person was suspended, shall extend the period of the suspension for an additional like period and, if the conviction was upon a charge of driving while a license was revoked, the office shall not issue a new license for an additional period of one (1) year from and after the date the person would otherwise have been entitled to apply for a new license.
    2. However, an application for a new license may be presented and acted upon by the office after the expiration of at least one (1) year after the date of revocation.

History. Acts 1937, No. 280, §§ 3, 37; Pope's Dig., § 6861; Acts 1959, No. 307, § 17; 1969, No. 300, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 75-303–75-341; Acts 1993, No. 445, § 4; 1999, No. 1018, § 1; 2017, No. 448, § 21.

Publisher's Notes. Subdivision (b)(2) of this section was formerly codified as part of § 27-16-206, now repealed.

Amendments. The 2017 amendment redesignated former (b) as (b)(1); and added (b)(2).

Cross References. Penalty for violation of this section, § 27-50-305.

Research References

Ark. L. Rev.

Bryan Altman, Comment: Improving the Indigent Defense Crisis Through Decriminalization, 70 Ark. L. Rev. 769 (2017).

Case Notes

Probable Cause.

Defendant's motion to suppress should have been granted because the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him for driving under a suspended or revoked driver's license, and consequently were precluded from inventorying his impounded vehicle in which 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of cocaine were discovered; therefore, conviction reversed on appeal in order to permit defendant to withdraw his guilty plea as provided for in ARCrP 24.3(b). Mounts v. State, 48 Ark. App. 1, 888 S.W.2d 321 (1994).

Suspension.

Suspensions in one state have the effect of precluding a driver from obtaining a license in other states; that is what happens in Arkansas, and recognition of foreign state suspensions is appropriate so long as those suspensions are effective for a fixed period of time. Sievers v. City of Fort Smith, 320 Ark. 136, 894 S.W.2d 940 (1995).

A suspension that continues for nine or ten years is not temporary under anyone's definition and certainly exceeds the one-year limitation set out under § 27-16-912. Sievers v. City of Fort Smith, 320 Ark. 136, 894 S.W.2d 940 (1995).

Violation As Grounds for Revocation of Suspended Sentence.

Trial court did not err in finding that defendant committed two criminal violations by leaving the scene of the accident and driving with a suspended license, §§ 27-53-101, 27-53-103, and subdivision (a)(1) of this section, or in revoking defendant's suspended sentence, based on evidence that he struck a pedestrian and left the scene. Jordan v. State, 2009 Ark. App. 859 (2009).

Cited: Stevens v. State, 319 Ark. 640, 893 S.W.2d 773 (1995); Cook v. State, 321 Ark. 641, 906 S.W.2d 681 (1995); Brown v. State, 54 Ark. App. 44, 924 S.W.2d 251 (1996); Hazelwood v. State, 328 Ark. 602, 945 S.W.2d 365 (1997).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1994–2025 · leading case: Cook v. State, 906 S.W.2d 681 (Ark. 1995).
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Cook v. State, 906 S.W.2d 681 (Ark. 1995). · cites it 3× “§ 27-16-301 and § 27-16-303 (Repl. 1994). Section 27-16-301 provides it is a misdemeanor for any person to violate any provisions of the Uniform Motor Vehicle Driver’s License Act; the act states that no person shall drive any motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.”
Benson v. State, 30 S.W.3d 731 (Ark. 2000). · cites it 2× “Specifically, paragraph 305(B)(2)(g), provides for mandatory impoundment where “Arkansas driver’s license or privileges [are] suspended for any purpose ( Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303 ).” We hold that the impoundment did not violate applicable police procedures.”
Stevens v. State, 893 S.W.2d 773 (Ark. 1995). · cites it 2× “Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303 (a)(l). Appellant was previously involved in an accident and was convicted of a traffic misdemeanor.”
Mounts v. State, 888 S.W.2d 321 (Ark. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “Appellant was arrested for driving under a revoked driver’s license in violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303 (a)(l) (Repl. 1994), which states: Any person whose driver’s license or driving privilege as a nonresident has been cancelled, suspended, or revoked as provided in this…”
Samantha Cameron v. State of Arkansas, 2025 Ark. App. 131 (Ark. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 4× “Instead, her argument is that driving while her license was suspended is a traffic violation, not a criminal offense, and her SIS was not conditioned on not committing a traffic offense but was conditioned on her not committing a criminal offense.”
Brown v. State, 924 S.W.2d 251 (Ark. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “See Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303 (a)(l) (Repl. 1994); Ark.”
C. Williams v. State, 2017 Ark. App. 291 (Ark. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “However, the mere fact that he had, some two to four weeks earlier, known that appellant’s license was at that time suspended, would not cause a person with reasonable caution to believe the license was still ’ suspended.”
Sievers v. City of Fort Smith, 894 S.W.2d 940 (Ark. 1995). · cites it 9× “drive on a suspended nonresident license provided at the time: Any person whose operator’s or chauffeur’s license or driving privilege as a nonresident has been cancelled, suspended, or revoked as provided in this act and who drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this…”
O'Neill v. State, 908 S.W.2d 637 (Ark. 1995). “§ 27-16-301 and § 27-16-303 (Repl. 1994). Taking these factors into consideration, we concluded that the varying punishments of the implied consent statute were not devoid of a legitimate purpose.”
— Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303(a)(1) — 1 case
Samantha Cameron v. State of Arkansas, 2025 Ark. App. 131 (Ark. Ct. App. 2025). “Instead, her argument is that driving while her license was suspended is a traffic violation, not a criminal offense, and her SIS was not conditioned on not committing a traffic offense but was conditioned on her not committing a criminal offense.”
— Ark. Code Ann. § 27-16-303(a)(l) — 1 case
Sievers v. City of Fort Smith, 894 S.W.2d 940 (Ark. 1995). “drive on a suspended nonresident license provided at the time: Any person whose operator’s or chauffeur’s license or driving privilege as a nonresident has been cancelled, suspended, or revoked as provided in this act and who drives any motor vehicle upon the highways of this…”
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