Ark. Code Ann. § 5-54-120 (2026)
Failure to appear
- As used in this section, “pending charge” means a charge that results from an arrest or issuance of a citation or criminal summons, or after the filing of a criminal information or indictment and that has not been resolved by acquittal, conviction, dismissal, or nolle prosequi.
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A person commits the offense of failure to appear if he or she fails to appear without reasonable excuse subsequent to having been:
- Cited or summonsed as an accused; or
- Lawfully set at liberty upon condition that he or she appear at a specified time, place, and court.
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Failure to appear is a:
- Class C felony if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of a felony charge either before or after a determination of guilt of the felony charge;
- Class D felony if the required appearance was in regard to an order to appear issued before a revocation hearing under § 16-93-307 and the defendant was placed on probation or received a suspended sentence for a felony offense;
- Class A misdemeanor if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of a Class A misdemeanor charge either before or after a determination of guilt of the Class A misdemeanor charge;
- Class B misdemeanor if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of a Class B misdemeanor charge either before or after a determination of guilt of the Class B misdemeanor charge;
- Class B misdemeanor if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of a Class C misdemeanor charge either before or after a determination of guilt of the Class C misdemeanor charge;
- Unclassified misdemeanor with the same penalty as the unclassified misdemeanor in the pending charge or disposition if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of an unclassified misdemeanor either before or after a determination of guilt on the unclassified misdemeanor charge; and
- Class C misdemeanor if the required appearance was in regard to a pending charge or disposition of a violation either before or after a determination of guilt of the violation charge.
- This section does not apply to an order to appear imposed as a condition of suspension or probation under § 5-4-303.
History. Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2820; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2820; Acts 1991, No. 916, § 1; 2011, No. 514, § 1; 2011, No. 570, § 32; 2013, No. 1193, § 1; 2015, No. 538, § 1; 2015, No. 1155, § 9; 2019, No. 322, § 1.
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.”
Amendments. The 2011 amendment by No. 514 rewrote (b) and (c).
The 2011 amendment by No. 570, in (d), substituted “under § 5-4-303” for “pursuant to § 5-4-303” and “under § 16-93-307” for “pursuant to § 5-4-310”.
The 2013 amendment added (b)(2); and redesignated (c)(1) through (6) as (b)(3) through (8).
The 2015 amendment by No. 538 added (a) and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; inserted “felony” preceding “charge” at the end of (c)(1); inserted “received a” preceding “suspended” in (c)(2); inserted “Class A misdemeanor” preceding “charge” at the end of (c)(3); inserted “Class B misdemeanor” preceding “charge” at the end of (c)(4); inserted “Class C misdemeanor” preceding “charge” at the end of (c)(5); deleted (c)(6) [formerly (b)(6)] and redesignated the remaining subdivisions accordingly; in present (c)(6), substituted “Unclassified misdemeanor” for “Class B misdemeanor” at the beginning and inserted “unclassified misdemeanor” preceding “charge” at the end; and inserted “violation” preceding “charge” at the end of (c)(7).
The 2015 amendment by No. 1155 deleted (b)(6).
The 2019 amendment inserted “or issuance of a citation or criminal summons” in (a).
Case Notes
Accomplice.
Evidence was sufficient to support conviction of bail bondsman as accomplice to failure to appear with respect to the person for whom he was bail bondsman, but not for another person where there was no evidence showing that he was aware of the criminal charges pending against such other person. Martinez v. State, 269 Ark. 231, 601 S.W.2d 576 (1980).
Evidence.
Evidence did not support a conviction for failure to appear because it was insufficient to show that defendant knew that his trial started at 8:30 a.m. An order granting a continuance and setting trial for March 11, 2014, was conspicuously void of a specified time. Clark v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 142, 457 S.W.3d 305 (2015).
Evidence that, in a pretrial-release order, defendant was ordered to appear in the district court on a specified date, defendant failed to appear in court on that date, and the jury heard testimony that defendant had been arrested on suspicion of DUI was clearly sufficient to support defendant's conviction for failure to appear. Reese v. State, 2018 Ark. App. 336, 552 S.W.3d 47 (2018).
Excuse.
Where the defendant had actual notice of the date he was to appear, the failure of the court to give him written notice of the time and place to appear did not violate his due process rights and was not sufficient cause to reverse his conviction for failure to appear. Harris v. State, 6 Ark. App. 89, 638 S.W.2d 698 (1982).
Even if defendant proved conclusively that he was advised by his lawyer not to appear, his failure to appear, in violation of this section, would not have been excused. Atkins v. State, 287 Ark. 445, 701 S.W.2d 109 (1985).
Defendant did not establish that he had a reasonable excuse for his failure to appear. Payne v. State, 21 Ark. App. 243, 731 S.W.2d 235 (1987).
Defendant was improperly convicted of failure to appear because the trial court erred by allowing a former attorney to testify regarding a phone call where defendant was advised of his court date; the communication between defendant and his former attorney was privileged. The former attorney's testimony was the only evidence in the record that defendant did not have a reasonable excuse for failure to appear based on lack of notice. Buckley v. State, 2014 Ark. App. 516, 443 S.W.3d 559 (2014).
Propriety of Sentence.
Sentence of 119 months for failure to appear was not an abuse of discretion, it was clear from the trial court's ruling that the severity of the sentence that defendant received was due to the seriousness of the circumstances surrounding the offense and there was no indication that defendant was being punished for offenses for which he was not convicted or that his sentence was a result of passion or prejudice. Whittier v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 536 (2015).
Requirements.
Circuit court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss where the state failed to produce substantial evidence that defendant received actual notice of the time and place to appear in court or that she received written notice of the time and place to appear; more had to be offered in the way of documentary proof or a judge's order, either written or verbal, to subject a defendant to a felony conviction for failure to appear. Stewart v. State, 362 Ark. 400, 208 S.W.3d 768 (2005).
Circuit court erred in denying defendant's motion for a directed verdict because the offense of failure to appear could only be a Class C felony if the required appearance was in regard to a charge that had been filed, but not yet adjudicated, there was insufficient evidence supporting defendant's conviction, the return of service on the initial arrest warrant was never completed, and the appearance agreement, which was the basis for the charge, was signed only by defendant and the sheriff. Thompson v. State, 2014 Ark. 413, 464 S.W.3d 111 (2014).
Cited: Howard v. State, 289 Ark. 587, 715 S.W.2d 440 (1986).