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Ark. Code Ann. § 16-81-203

Grounds to reasonably suspect

Applied in 31 court decisions — leading case Davis v. State (2003)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 93 - Minor Child v. State of Arkansas (February 2026)

Acts 1969, No. 378, § 7; A.S.A. 1947, § 43-435; Acts 2005, No. 1994, § 249.

How often courts cite this section

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citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

The following are among the factors to be considered in determining if the officer has grounds to reasonably suspect:

(1) The demeanor of the suspect;

(2) The gait and manner of the suspect;

(3) Any knowledge the officer may have of the suspect's background or character;

(4) Whether the suspect is carrying anything, and what he or she is carrying;

(5) The manner in which the suspect is dressed, including bulges in clothing, when considered in light of all of the other factors;

(6) The time of the day or night the suspect is observed;

(7) Any overheard conversation of the suspect;

(8) The particular streets and areas involved;

(9) Any information received from third persons, whether they are known or unknown;

(10) Whether the suspect is consorting with others whose conduct is reasonably suspect;

(11) The suspect's proximity to known criminal conduct;

(12) The incidence of crime in the immediate neighborhood;

(13) The suspect's apparent effort to conceal an article; and

(14) The apparent effort of the suspect to avoid identification or confrontation by a law enforcement officer.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.