Ongoing Projects:

State Project(s):

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hosts Arkansas Stream Team. See Arkansas Stream Team, Ark. Game & Fish Commission, https://www.agfc.com/en/get-involved/onthewater/streamteam/ (last visited Feb. 7, 2019). The program trains volunteers “in water-quality monitoring and streambank maintenance and restoration techniques.” Id.

Collection of Information: 

Criminal Ag-Gag Law:

 “(4) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner and with the purpose to disrupt or damage the enterprise conducted at the animal facility, the person:

    (A) Enters or remains in an animal facility; and

    (B) Had notice that the entry was forbidden or received notice to depart but failed to depart.” Ark. Code § 5-62-203(a). 

Violation of this section is a Class D felony. Id. § 5-62-203(b).

Civil Ag- Gag Law: 

“A person who knowingly gains access to a nonpublic area of a commercial property and engages in an act that exceeds the person’s authority to enter the nonpublic area is liable to the owner or operator of the commercial property for any damages sustained by the owner or operator.” Ark. Code § 16-118-113(b).

Commercial property includes “business property” and “[a]gricultural or timber production operations, including buildings and all outdoor areas that are not open to the public.” Id. § 16-118-113(a)(1)(A)-(B).

An individual in violation of this section is liable for compensatory damages or, if compensatory damages cannot be quantified, statutory damages not to exceed $5,000 for each day the violation occurred. Id. § 16-118-113(e)(2) & (4).

Exceptions to Civil Ag-Gag Law:

The civil Ag-Gag law “does not apply to a state agency, a state-funded institution of higher education, a law enforcement officer engaged in a lawful investigation of commercial property or of the owner or operator of the commercial property, or a healthcare provider or medical services provider.” 

Ark. Code § 16-118-113(g).

Scientific Collection Permit:

“It is unlawful to take wildlife for scientific study without possessing on the person a valid Commission-issued Scientific Collection Permit.” Code Ark. R. 002.00.1-09.09.

Other Provisions: 

See infra “Critical Infrastructure Laws.”

Trespass Laws:

Criminal Liability for Trespass Despite Lack of Notice:

No. A trespasser must enter or remain on the premises belonging to another purposely. Ark. Code § 5-39-203(a)(2). “A person who enters or remains upon unimproved and apparently unused land not fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude an intruder does so with license and privilege unless: (i) Notice not to enter or remain is personally communicated to the person by the owner or a person authorized by the owner; or (ii) Notice is given by a posting in a conspicuous manner.”  Id. § 5-39-101(3)(C).

Drone Laws:

Drone Law (by effect):

“It is unlawful to use any camera, videotape, photo-optical, photoelectric, or any other image recording device for the purpose of secretly observing, viewing, photographing, filming, or videotaping a person present in a residence, place of business, school, or other structure, or any room or particular location within that structure, if that person: (1) Is in a private area out of public view; (2) Has a reasonable expectation of privacy; and (3) Has not consented to the observation.” Ark. Code § 5-16-101(a).

A violation of subsection (a) is a Class D felony. Id. § 5-16-101(c)(1).

State Parks:

Please check with your local state park officials before using drones in state parks.

Other Provisions:

See infra “Critical Infrastructure Laws.”

Critical Infrastructure Laws:

Drone Surveillance Law:

“A person commits the offense of unlawful use of an unmanned aircraft system if he or she knowingly uses an unmanned aircraft system to conduct surveillance of, gather evidence or collect information about, or photographically or electronically record critical infrastructure without the prior written consent of the owner of the critical infrastructure.”  Ark. Code § 5-60-103(b).

“Critical infrastructure” means: an electrical power generation or delivery system; a petroleum refinery; a chemical or rubber manufacturing facility; or a petroleum or chemical storage facility.  Id. § 5-60-103(a)(1).

“Unlawful use of an unmanned aircraft system is: (1) A Class B misdemeanor; or (2) A Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense.” Id. § 5-60-103(d). An individual who violated this section is also liable for civil damages. See id. § 16-118-111.

Stalking Laws:

Criminal Law:

“A person commits stalking in the third degree if he or she knowingly commits an act that would place a reasonable person in the victim’s position under emotional distress and in fear for his or her safety or a third person’s safety.”  Ark. Code. § 5-71-229(c)(1). 

Civil Law:

“A person may recover actual damages, and if applicable, punitive damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, and court costs against another person if he or she proves by a preponderance of the evidence that another person knowingly engaged in a course of conduct towards the person that would place a reasonable person in the person’s position under emotional distress or in fear for his or her safety or a third person’s safety.”  Ark. Code. § 16-127-102(a).

Use of Information:

Although incomplete, our research has not found any provisions relating to the use of information collected by citizens in enforcement or administrative/legislative actions.

Evidentiary Standards:

Pleading a Claim:

Requires certification that “the factual contentions have evidentiary support.”  Ark. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(3).

Authentication or Chain of Custody:

“The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.”  Ark. R. Evid. 901(a).

Expert Testimony:

Daubert standard and Prater analysis.  See Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. of Arkansas v. Foote, 14 S.W.3d 512, 519-20 (Ark. 2000); Prater v. State, 307 Ark. 180, 186-89 (1991).