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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-702

Enhanced penalties for offenses committed in presence of a child

Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case State v. Colvin (2013)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 61 - Christopher Carter v. State of Arkansas (February 2026)

Acts 2001, No. 1707, § 2; 2007, No. 1047, § 1; 2009, No. 33, § 1; 2009, No. 936, § 1; 2017, No. 389, § 1; 2019, No. 324, § 1.

How often courts cite this section

20112020202620
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.

(1) A person who commits any of the following offenses may be subject to an enhanced sentence of an additional term of imprisonment of not less than one (1) year and not greater than ten (10) years if the offense is committed in the presence of a child: Capital murder, § 5-10-101;

(2) Murder in the first degree, § 5-10-102;

(3) Murder in the second degree, § 5-10-103;

(4) Aggravated robbery, § 5-12-103;

(5) A felony offense of assault or battery under § 5-13-201 et seq.;

(6) Rape, § 5-14-103;

(7) Sexual assault in the second degree, § 5-14-125; or

(8) A felony offense of domestic battering or assault on a family or household member under §§ 5-26-303 — 5-26-309.

(9) Any person who commits the offense of aggravated cruelty to a dog, cat, or equine under § 5-62-104 may be subject to an enhanced sentence of an additional term of imprisonment not to exceed five (5) years if the offense is committed in the presence of a child.

(10) To seek an enhanced penalty established in this section, a prosecuting attorney shall notify the defendant in writing that the defendant is subject to the enhanced penalty.

(11) If the defendant is charged by information or indictment, the prosecuting attorney may include the written notice in the information or indictment.

(12) The enhanced portion of the sentence is consecutive to any other sentence imposed.

(13) Any person convicted under this section is not eligible for early release on parole or community correction transfer for the enhanced portion of the sentence.

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.