Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-54-105

Hindering apprehension or prosecution

Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case People v. Pratt (1988)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 53 - Doralee Keeton v. State of Arkansas (January 2026)

Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2805; 1977, No. 360, § 15; 1985, No. 698, § 1; 1985, No. 1049, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2805; Acts 1997, No. 743, § 1; 2005, No. 1867, § 1.

How often courts cite this section

19881990200020102020202620
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 commits an offense under this section if, with purpose to hinder the apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or punishment of another person for an offense, he or she: Harbors or conceals the other person;

(2) Provides or aids in providing the other person with a weapon, money, transportation, disguise, or other means of avoiding apprehension, discovery, or effecting escape;

(3) Prevents or obstructs anyone from performing an act which might aid in the discovery, apprehension, or identification of the other person by means of force or intimidation or the threat of force or intimidation, or by means of deception;

(4) Conceals, alters, destroys, or otherwise suppresses the discovery of any fact, information, or other thing related to the crime which might aid in the discovery, apprehension, or identification of the other person;

(5) Warns the other person of impending discovery, apprehension, or identification;

(6) Volunteers false information to a law enforcement officer; or

(7) Purposely lies or attempts to purposely provide erroneous information, documents, or other instrumentalities which he or she knows to be false to a certified law enforcement officer that would distract from the true course of the investigation or inhibit the logical or orderly progress of the investigation.

(8) Hindering apprehension or prosecution is a Class B felony if the conduct of the person assisted in violation of this section constitutes a Class Y felony or a Class A felony.

(9) However, except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, if the defendant shows by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she stands to the person assisted in the relation of parent, child, brother, sister, husband, or wife, hindering apprehension or prosecution is a Class D felony.

(10) Subdivision (b)(1)(B) of this section does not apply if the offense of the person assisted is: Capital murder, as prohibited in § 5-10-101;

(11) Murder in the first degree, as prohibited in § 5-10-102;

(12) Kidnapping, as prohibited in § 5-11-102; or

(13) Rape, as prohibited in § 5-14-103.

(14) Hindering apprehension or prosecution is a felony classified one (1) degree below the felony constituted by the conduct of the person assisted in violation of this section if the conduct is a Class B felony or a Class C felony.

(15) Hindering apprehension or prosecution is a Class A misdemeanor if the conduct of the person assisted in violation of this section is a Class D felony or an unclassified felony.

(16) Hindering apprehension or prosecution is a Class D felony if the person in violation of this section was assisting an escapee from correctional custody sentenced after being found guilty of a felony.

(17) Otherwise, hindering apprehension or prosecution is a misdemeanor classed one (1) degree below the misdemeanor constituted by the conduct of the person assisted in violation of this section.

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.