Ark. Code Ann. § 9-15-202 (2026)
Filing fees
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- The court, clerks of the court, and law enforcement agencies shall not require any initial filing fees or service costs.
- A claim or counterclaim for other relief, including without limitation divorce, annulment, separate maintenance, or paternity shall not be asserted in an action brought under this subchapter except to the extent permitted in this subchapter.
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- Established filing fees may be assessed against the respondent at the full hearing.
- Filing fees under this section shall be collected by the county official, agency, or department designated under § 16-13-709 as primarily responsible for the collection of fines assessed in circuit court and shall be remitted on or before the tenth day of each month to the office of county treasurer for deposit to the county administration of justice fund.
- The county shall remit on or before the fifteenth day of each month all sums received in excess of the amounts necessary to fund the expenses enumerated in § 16-10-307(b) and (c) during the previous month from the uniform filing fees provided for in § 21-6-403, the uniform court costs provided for in § 16-10-305, and the fees provided for in this section to the Administration of Justice Funds Section of the Department of Finance and Administration for deposit into the State Administration of Justice Fund.
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- The abused in a domestic violence petition for relief for a protection order sought under this subchapter shall not bear the cost associated with its filing or the costs associated with the issuance or service of a warrant and witness subpoena.
- This subsection does not prohibit a judge from assessing costs against a petitioner if the allegations of abuse are determined after a hearing to be false.
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- An additional court cost of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) shall be assessed and remitted to the Administration of Justice Funds Section by the court clerk for deposit as special revenues into the Domestic Violence Shelter Fund if a person is a convicted perpetrator of domestic abuse or is the respondent on a permanent order of protection entered by a court under this chapter.
- The court clerk shall disburse all court costs collected each month under subdivision (d)(1) of this section to the Administration of Justice Funds Section by the fifteenth working day of the following month.
History. Acts 1991, No. 266, § 9; 1995, No. 401, § 1; 2013, No. 282, § 2; 2017, No. 583, § 2.
Publisher's Notes. Acts 1995, No. 401, § 1, is also codified in part as § 5-26-310(b).
Amendments. The 2013 amendment rewrote the section.
The 2017 amendment added (d).
Case Notes
Costs.
Court of appeals did not have jurisdiction pursuant to Ark. R. App. P. Civ. 2(a)(1) to hear the wife's appeal as a final order had not been entered by the trial court when it conditionally granted the order of protection against the husband but made it contingent upon his paying costs with the wife being allowed to “assist” him, tantamount to shifting the costs to the wife in violation of this section because the statute specifically stated that the petitioner should not be required to bear those costs. Dobbs v. Dobbs, 99 Ark. App. 156, 258 S.W.3d 414 (2007).