Arkansas earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws
Standard of Proof
Higher bar to forfeit in limited cases: Weak conviction provision falls short of criminal forfeiture. It does not require conviction of the owner, only of the “person from whom the property was seized,” and the court can waive the provision if the person does not contest the forfeiture or has agreed to help investigators in exchange for immunity. Once the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by preponderance of the evidence if the person contesting the forfeiture was arrested; clear and convincing if the person contesting is a third party.
Innocent Owner Burden
Poor protections for the innocent: Third-party owners must prove their own innocence to recover seized property.
Financial Incentive
Large profit incentive: 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement (up to a maximum of $250,000 from a single forfeiture, 80% to police and prosecutors, and 20% to the Crime Lab Equipment Fund; any amount above $250,000 goes to the Special State Assets Forfeiture Fund, a non-law enforcement fund).
The letter grade reflects Arkansas’ forfeiture laws as of May 7, 2025. When we become aware of relevant reforms, we are updating the standard of proof, innocent owner burden, and financial incentive language above, but we are not updating the letter grade.
Note: Prosecutors need only meet their standard of proof—and owners can only prove their innocence—if owners make it to a judicial hearing. See flow chart.
Recent Reforms
Recommendations
What happens after personal property is seized in Arkansas?
Under Arkansas law, prosecutors’ and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 230 days, but there is no deadline for the hearing itself; possible extensions and any criminal proceedings may also add to the wait. While you wait, the government has your property, and you have no way to seek its return.
For research methods and limitations, see “How We Documented Civil Forfeiture Processes From Seizure to Hearing.”
State and Federal Forfeiture Proceeds, 2000–2023
At least $60 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | Arkansas Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Unknown | $540,568 | $30,000 | $570,568 |
| 2001 | Unknown | $911,267 | $4,000 | $915,267 |
| 2002 | Unknown | $773,525 | $605,000 | $1,378,525 |
| 2003 | Unknown | $477,238 | $116,000 | $593,238 |
| 2004 | Unknown | $2,377,787 | $0 | $2,377,787 |
| 2005 | Unknown | $957,776 | $0 | $957,776 |
| 2006 | Unknown | $4,406,266 | $0 | $4,406,266 |
| 2007 | Unknown | $1,792,272 | $182,000 | $1,974,272 |
| 2008 | Unknown | $2,581,575 | $45,000 | $2,626,575 |
| 2009 | Unknown | $2,705,290 | $61,000 | $2,766,290 |
| 2010 | Unknown | $1,465,470 | $455,000 | $1,920,470 |
| 2011 | Unknown | $2,819,593 | $484,000 | $3,303,593 |
| 2012 | Unknown | $2,980,660 | $532,000 | $3,512,660 |
| 2013 | Unknown | $1,521,767 | $640,000 | $2,161,767 |
| 2014 | Unknown | $3,977,058 | $343,000 | $4,320,058 |
| 2015 | Unknown | $3,347,213 | $150,000 | $3,497,213 |
| 2016 | Unknown | $3,147,826 | $100,000 | $3,247,826 |
| 2017 | Unknown | $2,266,743 | $336,000 | $2,602,743 |
| 2018 | Unknown | $2,813,297 | $127,000 | $2,940,297 |
| 2019 | $1,567,333 | $1,065,385 | $567,000 | $3,199,718 |
| 2020 | $936,196 | $741,597 | $227,000 | $1,904,793 |
| 2021 | $2,690,182 | $1,027,485 | $1,729,000 | $5,446,667 |
| 2022 | $1,052,402 | $997,016 | $124,000 | $2,173,418 |
| 2023 | $477,888 | $1,160,675 | $231,000 | $1,869,563 |
| Totals | $6,724,001 | $46,855,349 | $7,088,000 | $60,667,350 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Arkansas does not prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from using the federal equitable sharing program to circumvent state forfeiture law. Since 2000, Arkansas agencies have generated nearly $54 million in equitable sharing proceeds from the departments of Justice and the Treasury. And on average from 2019 to 2023, more than 72 Arkansas agencies, or an estimated 21% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under Arkansas Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$1,091
From 2019 to 2023, half of Arkansas’ currency forfeitures were worth less than $1,091 per case.
Property Types
UNKNOWN
Arkansas property type data were not used for this report.
Proceeding Types
UNKNOWN
Arkansas does not report whether forfeitures are processed under civil or criminal forfeiture law.
Additional Findings
UNKNOWN
Agencies effectively report only limited information about currency seizures, and they often fail to report what happens to seized currency.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
C-Statewide Forfeiture Reports
BPenalties for Failure to File a Report
B*Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
FAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
CFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
A*Agencies must file even when they have nothing to report.
For full transparency and accountability grades, visit ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Forfeiture case data are from the state Asset Seizure Tracking System and were obtained via public records requests. All figures are based on the calendar year in which property was seized. Revenues represent the value of currency forfeited and property bought back by owners. Property not bought back is not consistently valued and thus not included in our totals, making them underestimates. Data for earlier years reported in the third edition of Policing for Profit represented seizure (not forfeiture) values and are not included here. Equitable sharing data are from DOJ’s and Treasury’s annual forfeiture reports. Due to differences in reporting and accounting practices, figures may not match aggregate numbers produced by the state or cover the same 12-month period as the federal data. The number of certified agencies was computed using the approved Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification requests submitted by police, sheriff, and other local law enforcement agencies. The percentage of certified agencies was computed using that number and the total number of agencies reported in the 2018 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.
Legal Sources
Standard of proof: Weak conviction provision does not require conviction of an owner, but only of the “person from whom the property [was] seized,” and a court can waive the provision if the person fails to contest forfeiture or if the person is granted immunity in exchange for helping investigators. After the conviction provision is satisfied, prosecutors must show that the property is subject to forfeiture by a preponderance of the evidence if the person contesting forfeiture was arrested for an offense giving rise to the forfeiture and by clear and convincing evidence if the person was a third party not arrested for such an offense.
Ark. Code Ann. § 5-64-505(m)(1), (m)(2)(E), (g)(5)(B)(i)(a)–(b).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 5-64-505(a)(4)(B), (a)(6)(B), (a)(8)(A).
Financial incentive: 100% (80% to police and prosecutors, 20% to the state Crime Lab Equipment Fund) up to a maximum of $250,000 from a single forfeiture. Any amount above $250,000 goes to the Special State Assets Forfeiture Fund, a non-law enforcement fund.
Ark. Code Ann. § 5-64-505(h)–(i); see also Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 99-282, 2000 WL 297203 (Feb. 24, 2000).
Process: Ark. Code Ann. § 5-64-505 (forfeiture procedure); Ark. R. Civ. P. 4(i) (service of complaint).