Ark. Code Ann. § 5-2-301 (2026)
Definitions
As used in this subchapter:
- “Appropriate facility” means any facility within or without this state to which a defendant is eligible for admission and treatment for mental disease or defect;
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“Compliance monitor” means either a social service representative or licensed social worker, or both, employed by the Department of Human Services for the purpose of, including, but not limited to:
- Verifying that a person conditionally released pursuant to a provision of this subchapter is in compliance with the conditions for release;
- Providing social service assistance to a person conditionally released pursuant to a provision of this subchapter; and
- Reporting compliance with the conditions for release or lack of compliance with the conditions for release to the appropriate circuit court;
- “Designated receiving facility or program” means an inpatient or outpatient treatment facility or program that is designated within each geographic area of the state by the Director of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services to accept the responsibility for the care, custody, and treatment of a person involuntarily admitted to the state mental health system;
- “Expert” means a qualified psychiatrist or a qualified psychologist;
- “Frivolous” means clearly lacking any basis in fact or law;
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“Lack of criminal responsibility” means that due to a mental disease or defect a defendant lacked the capacity at the time of the alleged offense to either:
- Appreciate the criminality of his or her conduct; or
- Conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law;
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“Mental disease or defect” means a:
- Substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life;
- State of significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with a defect of adaptive behavior that developed during the developmental period; or
- Significant impairment in cognitive functioning acquired as a direct consequence of a brain injury or resulting from a progressively deteriorating neurological condition.
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As used in the Arkansas Criminal Code, “mental disease or defect” does not include an abnormality manifested only by:
- Repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct;
- Continuous or noncontinuous periods of intoxication, as defined in § 5-2-207(b)(1), caused by a substance such as alcohol or a drug; or
- Dependence upon or addiction to any substance such as alcohol or a drug;
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“Mental disease or defect” means a:
- “Prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment” means care or treatment for a mental illness, as defined in § 20-47-202;
- “Qualified psychiatrist” means a licensed psychiatrist who has successfully completed or is currently participating in a post-residency fellowship in forensic psychiatry accredited by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc., or has successfully completed a forensic certification course approved by the department, and who is currently approved by the department to administer a forensic examination as defined in this subchapter;
- “Qualified psychologist” means a licensed psychologist who has successfully completed or is currently participating in a formal postdoctoral fellowship training program in forensic psychology or has successfully completed a forensic certification course approved by the department, and who is currently approved by the department to administer a forensic examination as defined in this subchapter;
- “Repetitive” means filed within six (6) months of an application under § 5-2-316 that has been previously denied and that fails to demonstrate a material change in circumstances;
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- “Restraint” means any manual method, physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment that immobilizes a person or reduces the ability of a person to move his or her arms, legs, body, or head freely.
- “Restraint” does not include devices such as orthopedically prescribed devices, surgical dressings or bandages, protective helmets, or other methods that involve the physical holding of a person for the purpose of protecting the person from falling or to permit the person to participate in activities without the risk of physical harm to himself or herself; and
- “State mental health system” means the Arkansas State Hospital and any other facility or program certified by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services.
History. Acts 1975, No. 280, § 616; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-616; Acts 1995, No. 767, § 1; 1997, No. 922, § 1; 2001, No. 1554, § 1; 2007, No. 636, § 1; 2013, No. 981, §§ 1, 2; 2017, No. 472, §§ 1-3; 2017, No. 913, §§ 11, 12.
Amendments. The 2013 amendment redesignated former (7) and (8) as present (8) and (9); in present (8), substituted “either” for “or is currently participating in” and inserted “has successfully completed”; substituted “received a post doctoral ... Psychology or” for “successfully completed or is ... psychology or has” in present (9); and inserted present (5) and (10) and redesignated the remaining subdivisions accordingly.
The 2017 amendment by No. 472 deleted the definition for “Capacity of the defendant to have the culpable mental state”; added the definitions for “Expert” and “Lack of criminal responsibility”; and added “or resulting from a progressively deteriorating neurological condition” in (7)(A)(iii).
The 2017 amendment by No. 913 substituted “Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services” for “Division of Behavioral Health Services” in (3) and (13).
Meaning of “Arkansas Criminal Code”. See note to § 5-1-101.
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
Article, Ethical and Effective Representation in Arkansas Capital Trials, 60 Ark. L. Rev. 1.
U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.
Survey of Legislation, 2001 Arkansas General Assembly, Criminal Law, 24 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 429.
Case Notes
Capacity to Form Specific Intent.
Where defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain expert testimony regarding defendant's capacity to form intent. The expert's report did not state that defendant lacked the capacity to form intent, only that it was impacted or impaired, and the expert also opined that defendant's psychotic disorder did not render him unable to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Furthermore, there was ample evidence of purposeful conduct where defendant left a bar and returned with a shotgun that he used against the victims. Edwards v. State, 2015 Ark. 377, 472 S.W.3d 479 (2015).