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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-65-208

Motor vehicle and motorboat accidents — Testing required

Known as the Omnibus DWI or BWI Act

The act spans §§ 5-65-101 to 5-65-403 (44 sections).

Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Metzner v. State (2015)

Most recently applied in State of Arkansas v. Matthew Kirchner (April 2021)

Acts 1995, No. 711, § 2; 1995, No. 1105, § 2; 2003, No. 950, § 1; 2009, No. 423, § 1; 2011, No. 1120, § 13; 2013, No. 361, § 9; 2015, No. 299, § 12; 2017, No. 1031, § 5; 2019, N…

How often courts cite this section

20152020202130
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) When the driver of a motor vehicle or operator of a motorboat on the waters of this state is involved in an accident resulting in loss of human life, when there is reason to believe death may result, or when a person sustains serious physical injury, a chemical test of the driver's or operator's breath, saliva, or urine shall be administered to the driver or operator, even if he or she is fatally injured, to determine the presence of and percentage of alcohol concentration or the presence of a controlled substance, or both, in the driver's or operator's body.

(2) A chemical test under this section shall be ordered as soon as practicable by one (1) of the following persons or agencies: The law enforcement agency investigating the accident;

(3) The physician in attendance; or

(4) Other person designated by state law.

(5) The person who conducts the chemical test of the driver's or operator's breath, saliva, or urine under this section shall forward the results of the chemical test to the Division of Arkansas State Police, and the division shall establish and maintain the results of the chemical tests required by subsection (a) of this section in a database.

(6) The information in the database shall reflect the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents in which: Alcohol was found to be a factor, including the percentage of alcohol concentration involved;

(7) Controlled substances were found to be a factor, including a list of the controlled substances found, the specific class of the controlled substance, and the amount; and

(8) Both alcohol and a controlled substance were found to be factors, including the percentage of alcohol concentration involved, as well as a list of the controlled substances found and the amount.

(9) The result of a chemical test required by this section shall be reported to the division and may be used by state and local officials for: Statistical purposes that do not reveal the identity of the deceased person; or

(10) Any law enforcement purpose, including prosecution for the violation of any law.

(11) A test of a person's blood under this section to determine the person's alcohol concentration, controlled substance content, or other intoxicating substance content in his or her blood requires a warrant based on probable cause that the person was operating or in actual physical control of a motorboat on the waters of this state or a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

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.