By Christie Nicholson, J.D. | Legally reviewed by FindLaw Staff | Last reviewed December 04, 2024
This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw’s team of legal writers and attorneys and in accordance with our editorial standards.
The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area.
Capital punishment has always been a controversial issue for Americans. A Pew Research Center study in 2021 found that 60% of people in the United States are in favor of the death penalty. But 78% of all Americans fear that there is a risk of executing an innocent person.
Arkansas is one of 27 states that still have the death penalty. Others include Texas and Missouri. Like most other states, the method of execution in Arkansas is lethal injection, although Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-617 says the method for some death row inmates will be electrocution.
While the capital of Arkansas is Little Rock, executions take place at the Varner Supermax Unit in Grady. The state's death row prison now houses 27 people; all are men. The state has carried out one for the federal government and 31 state executions since 1976. The governors in Arkansas have granted clemency only twice.
Here, we'll explain Arkansas' death penalty laws. We will discuss the crimes that are subject to capital punishment and the factors the courts will consider when determining whether to impose a death sentence.
More than half the states in this country have the death penalty, including Arkansas. For a short time, there was a moratorium on capital punishment. In a 1972 Supreme Court case, Furman v. Georgia, the justices said the death penalty was unconstitutional. The court found that the application of the death penalty in most states was arbitrary and discriminatory.
Within months, states began to reinstate the death penalty, with Florida leading the way just five months after the Furman case. Within a few years, 34 other states followed suit. The states that chose to keep the death penalty had to revise their laws to ensure that their application of the capital punishment laws was constitutional.
Many states did this by giving the prosecutor and the defendant in a capital case the opportunity to introduce mitigating and aggravating factors during the sentencing phase. By 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court said the death penalty was not in violation of the Eighth Amendment and that states were free to reinstate capital punishment (Gregg v. Georgia).
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the current method of execution in Arkansas is lethal injection. This wasn't always the case. The first execution in Arkansas was in 1820 and involved a man named Thomas Dickinson — a convicted murderer. The method of execution, in his case, was hanging.
In 1913, Arkansas changed the method of execution to the electric chair but changed it again in 1990 to lethal injection. The Department of Corrections used to handle executions and even chose the lethal medication (midazolam).
In 2012, the Arkansas Supreme Court said that the capital punishment laws and protocols gave the Department of Corrections too much authority over executions. One year later, lawmakers in Arkansas passed a law shielding the identity of the companies producing the lethal injection drugs.
Under Arkansas capital punishment laws, the courts can sentence a defendant to death if they are guilty of capital murder. In Davis v. State, the Supreme Court of Arkansas defined capital murder as any case involving the premeditated and deliberate death of another person.
Arkansas' capital punishment statute spells out the specific crimes that carry the potential of a death sentence. These crimes include the following:
The courts can also impose the death penalty when the murder victim is a peace officer, judge, firefighter, military personnel, or other prison and court employee.
The circuit courts in Arkansas hear all death penalty cases, and the Arkansas Supreme Court reviews the findings in each case. A conviction will result either in a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.
As we discussed above, there have been many changes in Arkansas' method of execution over the years. In 2017, the state learned that its supply of lethal injection drugs was due to expire. In April 2017, intent on not wasting the drugs, Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered the execution of eight death row inmates over 11 days.
The Department of Corrections only carried out four of the eight executions and botched two of them. On April 27, Kenneth Williams, one of the men the state planned to execute, suffered drawn-out seizures after the officers administered the deadly cocktail. There were rumors that the state botched the execution of another prisoner, Jack Jones.
The other two men executed that month were Ledell Lee and Marcel Williams.
Three years later, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected claims of other death row prisoners that the use of midazolam violated the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. The state still uses this lethal drug in executions.
The last execution to take place in Arkansas was of Williams.
The table below highlights Arkansas's capital punishment laws. (For more articles and resources, See FindLaw's Death Penalty section.)
| Code section | Arkansas Code §5-10-101 |
|---|---|
| Is capital punishment allowed? | Yes, for capital murder. |
| Effect of defendant's incapacity | The State of Arkansas will not sentence a person to death if the defendant had a mental disability at the time they committed the crime. |
| Minimum age | According to Ark. Code §5-10-101, the courts may sentence defendants over 18 to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. For defendants under 18 at the time of the crime, the court may sentence them to life in prison. They are not eligible for parole until they have served at least 30 years of their sentence. |
| Available for crimes other than homicide? | Yes, treason. |
| Method of execution | Lethal injection (electrocution in some cases) |
Note: State laws are constantly changing due to new legislation and higher court rulings. Contact an Arkansas criminal defense attorney or conduct legal research to verify your state laws.
If you or a loved one face capital charges, you should immediately meet with a criminal defense lawyer. Your attorney will review your case and help craft a strong legal defense.
Contact a qualified attorney.
Get tailored advice and ask your legal questions. Many Arkansas attorneys offer free consultations.
Learn more about FindLaw’s newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy.