Ark. Code Ann. § 5-65-103

Driving or boating while intoxicated

Known as the Omnibus DWI or BWI Act

The act spans §§ 5–5 (44 sections).

Applied in 89 court decisions — leading case Whitson v. State (1993)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 65 - Theresa Marshall v. Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Driver Services - Driver Control (February 2026)

Acts 1983, No. 549, § 3; A.S.A. 1947, § 75-2503; Acts 2001, No. 561, § 2; 2013, No. 361, § 2; 2015, No. 299, § 6; 2015 (1st Ex

How often courts cite this section

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) It is unlawful and punishable as provided in this chapter for a person who is intoxicated to operate or be in actual physical control of a motorboat on the waters of this state or a motor vehicle.

(2) It is unlawful and punishable as provided in this chapter for a person to operate or be in actual physical control of a motorboat on the waters of this state or a motor vehicle if at that time the alcohol concentration in the person's breath or blood was eight hundredths (0.08) or more based upon the definition of alcohol concentration in § 5-65-204.

(3) The consumption of alcohol or the possession of an open container of alcohol aboard a motorboat does not in and of itself constitute probable cause that the person committed the offense of boating while intoxicated.

(4) An alcohol-related offense under this section is a strict liability offense.

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.