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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-13-202

Battery in the second degree

Applied in 77 court decisions — leading case 53 Cal. 4th 1261 - People v. Cornett (2012)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 177 - Michael Talley; Jonesboro Police Department; And City of Jonesboro, Arkansas v. Carolyn Johnson, Michael Johnson, and Hailey Johnson (Now Boyd) (March 2026)

Acts 1975, No. 280, § 1602; 1981, No. 877, § 1; 1983, No. 12, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-1602; Acts 1995, No. 1173, § 1; 1995, No. 1305, § 2; 1995, No. 1338, § 1; 1997, No. 207, § 1…

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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.

(1) A person commits battery in the second degree if: With the purpose of causing physical injury to another person, the person causes serious physical injury to another person;

(2) With the purpose of causing physical injury to another person, the person causes physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon other than a firearm;

(3) The person recklessly causes serious physical injury to another person: By means of a deadly weapon; or

(4) While operating or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle or motorboat if at the time: The person is intoxicated; or

(5) The alcohol concentration in the person's breath or blood is eight-hundredths (0.08) or more based upon the definition of alcohol concentration in § 5-65-204; or

(6) The person knowingly, without legal justification, causes physical injury to or incapacitates a person he or she knows to be: A law enforcement officer, firefighter, code enforcement officer, or employee of a correctional facility while the law enforcement officer, firefighter, code enforcement officer, or employee of a correctional facility is acting in the line of duty.

(7) As used in this subdivision (a)(4)(A): “Code enforcement officer” means an individual charged with the duty of enforcing a municipal code, municipal ordinance, or municipal regulation as defined by a municipal code, municipal ordinance, or municipal regulation.

(8) “Code enforcement officer” includes a municipal animal control officer; and

(9) “Employee of a correctional facility” includes a person working under a professional services contract with the Division of Correction, the Division of Community Correction, or the Division of Youth Services;

(10) A teacher or other school employee while acting in the course of employment;

(11) An individual sixty (60) years of age or older or twelve (12) years of age or younger;

(12) An officer or employee of the state while the officer or employee of the state is acting in the performance of his or her lawful duty;

(13) While performing medical treatment or emergency medical services or while in the course of other employment relating to his or her medical training: A physician;

(14) A person licensed as emergency medical services personnel, as defined in § 20-13-202;

(15) A licensed or certified healthcare professional; or

(16) Any other healthcare provider; or

(17) An individual who is incompetent, as defined in § 5-25-101.

(18) Battery in the second degree under subdivision (a)(3)(B) of this section is a Class C felony.

(19) Otherwise, battery in the second degree is a Class D felony.

(20) As used in this section, “motorboat” means the same as defined in § 5-65-102.

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.