Ark. Code Ann. § 5-54-111 (2020)
Second degree escape
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A person commits the offense of second degree escape if he or she:
- At any time, including from the point of departure from confinement to the return to confinement, uses or threatens to use physical force in escaping from custody;
- Having been found guilty of a felony, escapes from custody;
- Escapes from a correctional facility;
- Escapes from a juvenile detention facility; or
- Escapes from a youth services program.
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Second degree escape is a Class B felony if, at the time of the escape, the person is in the custody of:
- The Division of Correction;
- The Division of Community Correction; or
- A law enforcement agency.
- Otherwise second degree escape is a Class D felony.
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Second degree escape is a Class B felony if, at the time of the escape, the person is in the custody of:
History. Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2811; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2811; Acts 1997, No. 1229, § 4; 1997, No. 1299, § 4; 2003, No. 1348, § 2; 2005, No. 1994, § 255; 2009, No. 478, § 2; 2019, No. 910, § 677.
Amendments. The 2003 amendment added “At anytime from the point of departure from confinement to the return to confinement” in (a)(1); and made stylistic changes.
The 2005 amendment inserted “including” in (a)(1); and substituted “program” for “facility” in (a)(5).
The 2009 amendment rewrote (b).
The 2019 amendment substituted “Division of Correction” for “Department of Correction” in (b)(1)(A), and “Division of Community Correction” for “Department of Community Correction” in (b)(1)(B).
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
Rachel A. Orr, Recent Developments: Arkansas Supreme Court Defines “In Custody” Element of Second-Degree Escape Charge, 65 Ark. L. Rev. 163 (2012).
Case Notes
Correctional Facility.
Defendant escaping from the holding cell was properly charged with second-degree escape. Glover v. State, 8 Ark. App. 104, 648 S.W.2d 824 (1983).
County jail was a “correctional facility.” Stout v. State, 304 Ark. 610, 804 S.W.2d 686 (1991).
Evidence.
Evidence held sufficient to support the defendant's conviction for escape. Wilson v. State, 277 Ark. 43, 639 S.W.2d 45 (1982).
Where the defendant forged a court order which declared his convictions void, there was sufficient evidence to sustain a guilty verdict for second degree escape, and the Attorney General's statement that the order was valid did not legitimize the fraudulent order. Wade v. State, 290 Ark. 16, 716 S.W.2d 194 (1986).
Lesser-Included Offenses.
Offense of third-degree escape of which defendant was found guilty is a lesser-included offense of second-degree escape with which he was charged. France v. State, 262 Ark. 193, 555 S.W.2d 225 (1977).
Proof.
To convict a person of the crime of escape, it was not sufficient merely to offer evidence that someone by the same name of the accused was convicted, but there had to be evidence that the accused was the same identical person who was convicted. Pennington v. State, 260 Ark. 844, 545 S.W.2d 72 (1977) (decision under prior law).
It was not necessary that the state prove a transfer of an inmate from one institution to another so long as it was within the authority of the Department of Correction to make such transfer and the state needed to prove only that the accused was in the custody of the department when he escaped. Pennington v. State, 260 Ark. 844, 545 S.W.2d 72 (1977) (decision under prior law).
There is nothing in this section suggesting that proof of the specific crime is an element of escape, only that the accused has escaped from a correctional facility. Bussard v. State, 296 Ark. 556, 759 S.W.2d 24 (1988).
Because defendant was not “in custody” at the time defendant violated the conditions of defendant's release on bond under § 16-90-122, the circuit court erred in denying defendant's motion for directed verdict on defendant's conviction for second-degree escape under subdivision (a)(2) of this section. Magness v. State, 2012 Ark. 16, 386 S.W.3d 390 (2012).
Cited: Glick v. State, 3 Ark. App. 175, 623 S.W.2d 546 (1981); Bosnick v. State, 275 Ark. 52, 627 S.W.2d 23 (1982); Williams v. State, 347 Ark. 728, 67 S.W.3d 548 (2002); Avery v. State, 93 Ark. App. 112, 217 S.W.3d 162 (2005).