Arkansas Manslaughter and Negligent Homicide Laws (2026)

Arkansas has a single offense named manslaughter, Ark. Code 5-10-104, a Class B felony punishable by 5 to 20 years, which covers a killing under extreme emotional disturbance, purposely causing or aiding a suicide, recklessly causing a death, and negligently causing a death during a felony or a controlled-substance delivery. Arkansas has no offense called vehicular manslaughter or DUI manslaughter: a death negligently caused by operating a vehicle, aircraft or watercraft while intoxicated is negligent homicide under 5-10-105, also a Class B felony, while other negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor, or a Class D felony when committed by means of a deadly weapon.

For how other states define and punish these offenses, see our guide to manslaughter laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-17. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the Arkansas statutes on homicide below murder: manslaughter (Ark. Code 5-10-104) and negligent homicide (5-10-105), the culpable mental states in 5-2-202, the definition of "person" for the homicide offenses, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and the sentencing, release and licence statutes tied to them. It does not cover capital murder or murder (see how long a life sentence is in Arkansas and our overview of murder sentencing guidelines), self-defense (see Arkansas self-defense laws), civil lawsuits by surviving family (see Arkansas wrongful death law), city ordinances, or federal offenses, which the manslaughter laws hub covers.

What is manslaughter in Arkansas?

Arkansas does not use the voluntary and involuntary labels. Its criminal code has one manslaughter statute with four forms, and a separate negligent homicide statute below it. The statute reads:

"(a) A person commits manslaughter if: (1)(A) The person causes the death of another person under circumstances that would be murder, except that he or she causes the death under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable excuse. (B) The reasonableness of the excuse is determined from the viewpoint of a person in the actor's situation under the circumstances as the actor believed them to be; (2) The person purposely causes or aids another person to commit suicide; (3) The person recklessly causes the death of another person; or (4) Acting alone or with one (1) or more persons: ..." Ark. Code 5-10-104(a)

The fourth form, in 5-10-104(a)(4), applies when a person, acting alone or with others, commits or attempts to commit a felony, or a violation of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act (5-64-101 to 5-64-508) "involving an actual delivery of a controlled substance," and, in the course of and in furtherance of the offense or in immediate flight from it, the person or an accomplice "negligently causes the death of any person," or another person who is resisting the offense or flight "causes the death of any person."

Readers who search for the two common labels can map them this way, as far as the text goes:

• What other states call voluntary manslaughter corresponds to the extreme emotional disturbance form, 5-10-104(a)(1).
• What other states call involuntary manslaughter is split between the reckless form of manslaughter, 5-10-104(a)(3), and negligent homicide, 5-10-105, which requires only negligence.

Under 5-10-104(c), "Manslaughter is a Class B felony." That grade applies to every form.

Arkansas manslaughter and related death offenses at a glance

The prison ranges come from Ark. Code 5-4-401: a Class B felony carries "not less than five (5) years and not more than twenty (20) years," a Class D felony up to six years, and a Class A misdemeanor up to one year. The fine ceilings come from 5-4-201: up to $15,000 for a Class A or B felony, up to $10,000 for a Class C or D felony and up to $2,500 for a Class A misdemeanor. For how Arkansas sentences each class across all offenses, see Arkansas felony and misdemeanor classes.

Extreme emotional disturbance: Arkansas's provocation rule

The first form of manslaughter reduces what "would be murder" when the person caused the death "under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable excuse." The statute measures the excuse "from the viewpoint of a person in the actor's situation under the circumstances as the actor believed them to be" (5-10-104(a)(1)(B)).

The Arkansas Supreme Court has required evidence of provocation in the moment before the killing. In Boyle v. State, 363 Ark. 356, 214 S.W.3d 250 (2005), the court wrote:

"We have held repeatedly that, in order for a jury to be instructed on extreme-emotional-disturbance manslaughter, there must be evidence that the defendant killed the victim in the moment following some kind of provocation, such as "physical fighting, a threat, or a brandished weapon." ... Passion alone will not reduce a homicide from murder to manslaughter." Boyle v. State, 363 Ark. 356 (2005)

Arkansas's manslaughter statute contains no provision addressing the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity; Arkansas has no statute of the kind some states enacted to bar a "gay panic" or "trans panic" provocation claim.

The suicide form (5-10-104(a)(2)) requires that the person "purposely" caused or aided another person to commit suicide. Self-defense and justification are separate questions; Arkansas self-defense laws covers them.

Reckless manslaughter and negligent homicide: the mental states

The line between reckless manslaughter and negligent homicide is the mental state. Ark. Code 5-2-202 defines both terms for the Arkansas Criminal Code:

"(3) "Recklessly." (A) A person acts recklessly with respect to attendant circumstances or a result of his or her conduct when the person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the attendant circumstances exist or the result will occur. (B) The risk must be of a nature and degree that disregard of the risk constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation; and (4) "Negligently." (A) A person acts negligently with respect to attendant circumstances or a result of his or her conduct when the person should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the attendant circumstances exist or the result will occur. (B) The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's failure to perceive the risk involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to the actor." Ark. Code 5-2-202

A reckless person is aware of the risk and consciously disregards it; a negligent person should be aware of the risk and fails to perceive it. In both cases the conduct must be a gross deviation from a reasonable person's standard of care.

Negligent homicide outside vehicles. Under 5-10-105(b), a person commits negligent homicide "if he or she negligently causes the death of another person." Act 659 of 2023 (the Protect Arkansas Act), effective January 1, 2024, split this offense: "A person who violates subdivision (b)(1) of this section by means of a deadly weapon upon conviction is guilty of a ... Class D felony," and "If otherwise committed under subdivision (b)(1) of this section, negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor." Before 2024, every (b) negligent homicide was a Class A misdemeanor. Arkansas therefore keeps a misdemeanor homicide grade.

Deaths during a felony or drug delivery. The (a)(4) form makes a negligent death during a felony manslaughter rather than negligent homicide. Act 599 of 2025 (House Bill 1630, approved April 14, 2025, effective August 5, 2025) added the controlled-substance delivery violation as a predicate; the act's title describes it as adding "a misdemeanor controlled substance offense to the predicate offenses for capital murder, murder in the first degree, and manslaughter." Section 5-10-104(b) gives a defendant who was not the only participant an affirmative defense to an (a)(4) prosecution, but only if all four of its conditions are met: the defendant did not commit the homicidal act or in any way solicit, command, induce, procure, counsel or aid it; was not armed with a deadly weapon; reasonably believed that no other participant was armed with a deadly weapon; and reasonably believed that no other participant intended to engage in conduct which could result in death or serious physical injury.

Vehicular manslaughter and DWI deaths in Arkansas

Arkansas's code has no offense named vehicular manslaughter, DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide. Deaths from operating a vehicle fall under negligent homicide or manslaughter.

Negligent homicide by vehicle, aircraft or watercraft (5-10-105(a))

The intoxicated-driving death offense is the vehicle form of negligent homicide:

"(a)(1) A person commits negligent homicide if he or she negligently causes the death of another person, not constituting murder or manslaughter, as a result of operating a vehicle, an aircraft, or a watercraft: (A) While intoxicated; (B)(i) If at that time there is an alcohol concentration of eight hundredths (0.08) or more in the person's breath or blood based upon the definition of alcohol concentration in 5-65-204, as determined by a chemical test of the person's blood, urine, breath, saliva, or other bodily substance. ... (C) While passing a stopped school bus in violation of 27-51-1004; or (D) While fatigued. (2) A person who violates subdivision (a)(1) of this section upon conviction is guilty of a Class B felony." Ark. Code 5-10-105(a)

The same form covers boating and flying, since it names "a vehicle, an aircraft, or a watercraft." It also covers deaths caused while passing a stopped school bus or while fatigued, with no intoxication required in those two forms.

Reckless driving deaths

A death caused by reckless driving can fall under the reckless form of manslaughter, 5-10-104(a)(3), which has no vehicle-specific element and is a Class B felony. Title 27 also contains an older traffic-code provision, Ark. Code 27-50-307, which states that when a death ensues within one year from "the driving of any vehicle in reckless or wanton disregard of the safety of others, the person operating the vehicle shall be guilty of negligent homicide," and requires revocation of the driver's licence; that section states no penalty class.

Release, probation and licence rules for vehicle deaths

• 85 percent before release. For offenses committed on or after January 1, 2025, Class B negligent homicide is a restricted release felony (see the sentencing section below).
• Probation list. The list of offenses for which a court "shall not suspend imposition of sentence as to a term of imprisonment or place a defendant on probation" (5-4-301(a)(1)) names driving or boating while intoxicated (5-65-103) but does not name manslaughter or negligent homicide.
• Licence revocation. The Office of Driver Services "shall forthwith revoke the license of any driver" on a final conviction of "manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle," or of "failure to stop and render aid ... in the event of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death or personal injury of another" (27-16-905(1), (3)).

For DWI penalties when no one died, see Arkansas DUI laws.

Leaving the scene of a fatal accident

Acts 558 and 1035 of 2021 rewrote Ark. Code 27-53-101. A driver who fails to comply with the scene duties when the accident results in "serious physical injury to or death of another person" is guilty of a Class B felony (physical injury alone is a Class D felony), and a driver "involved in an accident resulting in serious physical injury to or the death of any person and who has knowingly or recklessly failed to comply" with those duties is also guilty of a Class B felony. Leaving the scene of a boating accident is a Class D felony "in the event the accident resulted in grave personal injury or death" (27-101-205(f)(3)). See Arkansas hit-and-run laws for the duties at a crash scene.

Fleeing police

Arkansas's fleeing statute, Ark. Code 5-54-125(d), has no grade for a resulting death. Its highest grades turn on danger and injury: fleeing by vehicle is a Class D felony when the person operated the vehicle "in excess of the posted speed limit" (added by Act 734 of 2023), a Class C felony when the person purposely operates it "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life" in a way that "creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person," and a Class B felony "if serious physical injury to any person occurs as a direct result" of the fleeing. Act 722 of 2021 raised the last two forms from Class D and Class C. Act 822 of 2025 (approved April 17, 2025, effective August 5, 2025) raises each of those three forms one class, to Class C, B and A, when the person "exited the vehicle while the vehicle or conveyance was still moving and continued to flee on foot."

Other homicide offenses below murder

Unborn children. Arkansas has no separate fetal homicide ladder; instead, the ordinary offenses reach an unborn child. Under Ark. Code 5-1-102(13)(B), as used in sections 5-10-101 through 5-10-105 and 5-4-604, "person" also includes "an unborn child in utero at any stage of development," with listed exceptions that include an act committed during a legal abortion to which the woman consented. Act 931 of 2021 amended this definition.

Assisting a suicide. Purposely causing or aiding another person to commit suicide is a form of manslaughter (5-10-104(a)(2)), a Class B felony.

Drug-delivery deaths. A negligent death caused in the course of a controlled-substance delivery violation is charged under the (a)(4) form of manslaughter, as amended by Act 599 of 2025. The same act made such a death capital murder or first-degree murder (5-10-101, 5-10-102) when caused under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; see murder laws in the United States.

Other offenses graded by a resulting death

• Permitting abuse of a minor where the abuse "caused serious physical injury or death to the minor": Ark. Code 5-27-221(c)(1)(C), Class B felony (5 to 20 years).
• Physician-assisted suicide: Ark. Code 5-10-106, Class B felony (5 to 20 years).
• Encouraging the suicide of another person (persistent language purposely encouraging suicide, where suicide or a seriously injurious attempt results): Ark. Code 5-10-107, Class D felony (up to 6 years); a restricted release felony (16-93-1802).
• Unlawful dog attack causing death or serious physical injury: Ark. Code 5-62-125, Class A misdemeanor (up to 1 year).
• Not graded by a resulting death: racing on a public highway (27-50-309, Class A misdemeanor), hazing (6-5-202, Class B misdemeanor), driving while licence suspended or revoked (27-16-303), the move-over offense (27-51-310), and abuse of an endangered or impaired person (5-28-103), whose top grade turns on serious physical injury or a substantial risk of death.

Sentencing: the 85 percent rule, post-release supervision and child victims

• Restricted release felonies (offenses on or after January 1, 2025). Act 659 of 2023 created a category of "restricted release felony," meaning a felony "for which a person is not eligible for release until at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentenced imposed by the sentencing court has been served." The list "includes only" named offenses, among them "Manslaughter, 5-10-104" and "Negligent homicide, 5-10-105, if a Class B felony" (16-93-1802(2)). Under 16-93-1803(b)(1), a person who commits a restricted release felony "on or after January 1, 2025" is "not eligible for release prior to serving at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the term of incarceration imposed," and earned release credits may not exceed 15 percent of the term (16-93-1803(b)(3)). Under 16-93-1803(c), a person who commits a restricted release felony after a prior conviction for a restricted release felony or a felony ineligible to receive earned release credits must serve 100 percent of the term. Offenses committed earlier follow the earlier release rules.
• Post-release supervision. Under Ark. Code 5-4-104(c), as amended by Act 659, the trial court "shall impose a period of post-release supervision" for a defendant sentenced for a restricted release felony "who is not sentenced to the statutory maximum for the offense"; the maximum term for a Class B felony is five years.
• Child victims (2025). Act 976 of 2025 (House Bill 1865, approved April 22, 2025, effective August 5, 2025) created Ark. Code 5-4-708, an enhanced penalty that applies to felony offenses under "Homicide, 5-10-101 et seq." committed by a person 18 or older when the offense is committed against a child and the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child. It applies only when the information or indictment states that the enhanced penalty is sought and the allegations supporting it. The minimum term is "Ten (10) years for a Class B felony," five years for a Class C felony and one year for a Class D felony.
• Habitual offenders. Under Ark. Code 5-4-501(a), a defendant convicted of a felony who has more than one but fewer than four prior felony convictions may be sentenced to an extended term; for a Class B felony such as manslaughter or Class B negligent homicide that term is 5 to 30 years, and for a Class D felony up to 12 years. Section 5-4-501(b) sets higher ranges for four or more prior felonies. Under 5-4-301(a)(2), a defendant with two or more prior felonies cannot be placed on probation or receive a suspended imposition of sentence in place of prison.
• Firearms. When a firearm was employed to commit or escape from the felony, the court may add up to 15 years, served consecutively (Ark. Code 16-90-120(a), (b)); since January 1, 2024 that added term is not eligible for parole, post-release supervision transfer or community correction transfer (16-90-120(g), Act 659 of 2023). A second or subsequent felony involving the use of a firearm carries a minimum of 10 years without parole or community correction transfer, subject to reduction by meritorious good-time or earned release credits (16-90-121).
• Grade changes by date. Manslaughter committed before January 1, 2024 was a Class C felony; Act 659 of 2023 made it Class B from that date.

Recent changes

• 2021: Act 558 and Act 1035 regraded leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury or death as a Class B felony (27-53-101). Act 722 raised the fleeing grades. Act 931 amended the definition of "person" used for the homicide offenses (5-1-102(13)(B)).
• January 1, 2024: Act 659 of 2023 (the Protect Arkansas Act) made manslaughter a Class B felony (from Class C) and made negligent homicide by means of a deadly weapon a Class D felony (from a Class A misdemeanor). It also created the restricted release felony category.
• 2023: Act 734 added the speeding Class D felony to the fleeing statute.
• January 1, 2025: the 85 percent restricted release rule began to apply, to felonies committed on or after that date.
• August 5, 2025: Act 599 added controlled-substance delivery violations to the predicates for manslaughter under 5-10-104(a)(4) and for capital and first-degree murder. Act 822 added the flight-on-foot step-up to the fleeing statute. Act 976 created the child-victim minimums in 5-4-708. None of the three has an emergency clause, so each applies to conduct on or after August 5, 2025.

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 1112, separately covers manslaughter on federal land and in other federal jurisdictions; the manslaughter laws hub explains it.

Related pages

• Manslaughter laws by state
• Arkansas felony and misdemeanor classes
• Arkansas DUI laws
• Arkansas hit-and-run laws
• Arkansas self-defense laws
• What is the difference between murder, homicide and manslaughter
• Missouri manslaughter laws
• Oklahoma manslaughter laws

This article provides general legal information about Arkansas law as of 2026-10-17. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Arkansas.

Last updated: 2026-10-17.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is manslaughter a felony in Arkansas?

Yes. Manslaughter under Ark. Code 5-10-104 is always a Class B felony, punishable by 5 to 20 years (5-4-401). Negligent homicide, the lower offense, is a felony in its vehicle form and when committed by means of a deadly weapon, but otherwise a Class A misdemeanor (5-10-105).

What is the sentence for manslaughter in Arkansas?

Manslaughter is a Class B felony: 5 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 (Ark. Code 5-4-401, 5-4-201). For offenses committed on or after January 1, 2025, release is not available until 85 percent of the term is served, or 100 percent after a prior restricted release felony. A defendant with more than one but fewer than four prior felonies can receive an extended term of 5 to 30 years (5-4-501(a)), and a firearm can add up to 15 consecutive years (16-90-120).

Does Arkansas have voluntary and involuntary manslaughter?

Not by those names. Arkansas has one manslaughter offense with four forms (5-10-104) and a separate negligent homicide offense (5-10-105). The extreme emotional disturbance form is the closest match to voluntary manslaughter; the reckless form and negligent homicide cover unintended deaths.

What is the charge for a drunk driving death in Arkansas?

Negligently causing the death of another person by operating a vehicle, aircraft or watercraft while intoxicated, or with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, is negligent homicide under Ark. Code 5-10-105(a), a Class B felony punishable by 5 to 20 years.

Is negligent homicide a misdemeanor in Arkansas?

Sometimes. Negligent homicide under 5-10-105(b) is a Class A misdemeanor unless it is committed by means of a deadly weapon (a Class D felony since January 1, 2024). The vehicle, aircraft and watercraft form in 5-10-105(a), covering intoxication, 0.08, school-bus passing and fatigue, is a Class B felony.

Is leaving the scene of a fatal accident a felony in Arkansas?

Yes. Failing to comply with the scene duties when an accident results in serious physical injury to or death of another person is a Class B felony under Ark. Code 27-53-101, and the licence must be revoked on a final conviction for failure to stop and render aid in such an accident (27-16-905(3)).

Can a death during a drug sale be manslaughter in Arkansas?

It can be. For offenses on or after August 5, 2025 (Act 599 of 2025), the (a)(4) form of manslaughter covers a person who commits a Uniform Controlled Substance Act violation involving an actual delivery and, in the course of it, the person or an accomplice negligently causes the death of any person. A death caused under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life in the course of such a delivery can instead be capital murder or first-degree murder.