## How the limitation period applies

The controlling primary authority for US-AR medical malpractice SOL (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203) is **16-114-203**.

> **16-114-203.** Except as otherwise provided in this section, all actions for medical injury shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action accrues.

## Related statutes

### 16-114-203 — Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203

> Except as otherwise provided in this section, all actions for medical injury shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action accrues.

## Use the calculator

DocketMath's statute-of-limitations tool can model these timelines once you identify the controlling claim type and accrual date. Use the source panel for the verified primary-source citations.

[Open the Statute of Limitations calculator](/tools/statute-of-limitations)

## Sources

- [16-114-203 — Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203](https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-7/chapter-114/subchapter-2/section-16-114-203/)
- [16-114-203 — Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203](https://codes.findlaw.com/ar/title-16-practice-procedure-and-courts/ar-code-sect-16-114-203.html)

Verified across multiple secondary sources cross-referenced for agreement: `law.justia.com`, `codes.findlaw.com`.

**Corroboration method:** spa_subagent_dual_fetch.


Statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Arkansas — backed by real statute citations.

Statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Arkansas

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state... (3) All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied.

(a) Actions to enforce written obligations, duties, or rights, except those to which § 4-4-111 is applicable, shall be commenced within five (5) years after the cause of action shall accrue. (b) However, partial payment or written acknowledgment of default shall toll this statute of limitations.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues... (6) All other actions not specifically limited by statute. [as applied via § 16-56-105 catchall to common-law fraud; AR case law applies discovery rule.]

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing... (3) All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied... (6) All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues... (5) All actions for libels...

Except as otherwise provided in this section, all actions for medical injury shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action accrues. The date of the accrual of the cause of action shall be the date of the wrongful act complained of and no other time. However, where the action is based upon the discovery of a foreign object in the body of the injured person which is not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered within such two-year period, the action may be commenced within one (1) year from the date of discovery or the date the foreign object reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is earlier.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state; (2) All actions for arrearages of rent not reserved by some instrument in writing, under seal; (3) All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied; (4) All actions for trespass on lands; (5) All actions for libels; and (6) All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues... (6) All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels.

The following actions shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action shall accrue and not thereafter: (1) All special actions on the case; (2) Actions for: (A) Assault and battery; and (B) False imprisonment; (3) All actions for words spoken slandering the character of another; (4) All actions for words spoken whereby special damages are sustained; and (5) All actions for damages suffered by a consumer as a result of any act or omission of a home inspector relating to a home inspection report.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues... (4) All actions for trespass on lands; (5) All actions for libels; and (6) All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels.

Every action authorized by this section shall be commenced within three (3) years after the death of the person alleged to have been wrongfully killed, except the action may be commenced against a person in the time period permitted to bring a murder charge under § 5-1-109(a) if the person was convicted of one (1) of the following offenses: (A) Capital murder, § 5-10-101; (B) Murder in the first degree, § 5-10-102; or (C) Murder in the second degree, § 5-10-103.

The following actions shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action shall accrue and not thereafter: All special actions on the case; Actions for: Assault and battery; and False imprisonment

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state; (2) All actions for arrearages of rent not reserved by some instrument in writing, under seal; (3) All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied;

A prosecution for the following offenses may be commenced at any time: Capital murder, § 5-10-101; Murder in the first degree, § 5-10-102;

Arkansas's three-year statute of limitations for personal-injury actions applies to the Humphreys' § 1983 claims. See Ketchum v. City of West Memphis, Ark. , 974 F.2d 81 , 82 (8th Cir. 1992) (Arkansas's 3-year personal-injury statute of limitations governs § 1983 actions brought in that state); see also Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105 . Thus, the Humphreys were required to file their lawsuit within three years of the date their claims accrued.

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state; All actions for arrearages of rent not reserved by some instrument in writing, under seal; All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied; All actions for trespass on lands; All actions for libels; and All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels.

Actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability (not under seal and not in writing, except such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state) shall be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrues. Actions to enforce written obligations shall be commenced within five years after the cause of action accrues.

Under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-109(a)(1), 'A prosecution for the following offenses may be commenced at any time,' and subsection (a)(1)(B) explicitly lists 'Murder in the first degree, § 5-10-102.' Arkansas imposes no statute of limitations on first-degree murder prosecutions. Note: subsection (b)(1)(A) provides a 6-year default period for 'Class Y felony or Class A felony' — but § 5-10-102 first-degree murder (a Class Y felony) is carved out entirely from that period by the express enumeration in 

In Arkansas, prosecution of any misdemeanor offense — including Class C (petty) misdemeanors — must be commenced within one year of the commission of the offense under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-109(b)(3)(A). The one-year period is confirmed by the Arkansas Supreme Court in State v. Ledwell (2017) and McGrew v. State (1999).

Arkansas's SOL for personal injury is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for wrongful death is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-62-102.

Arkansas's SOL for medical malpractice is 2 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203.

Arkansas's SOL for legal malpractice is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for product liability is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-116-203.

Arkansas's SOL for premises liability is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for breach of a written contract is 5 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-111.

Arkansas's SOL for breach of an oral contract is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for a UCC contract for sale of goods is 4 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 4-2-725.

Arkansas's SOL for fraud is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for libel is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for slander is 1 year under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-104.

Arkansas's SOL for property damage is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

Arkansas's SOL for trespass is 3 years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105.

A claim for intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress in Arkansas is an action founded on liability expressed or implied and must be commenced within three years under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105(3).

The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing; (2) All actions for arrearages of rent not reserved by some deed or note in writing; (3) All actions founded on any judgment or decree of any court not of record of this state, or any state, or of the United States; (4) All actions for the publication of a libel, except as provided in § 16-56-104; (5) All actions for taking or injuring any goods or chattels or for trespass on real property; (6) All other actions not specifically limited by statute.

If any person entitled to bring any action is, at the time the cause of action accrues, (a) under twenty-one (21) years of age, (b) insane, or (c) imprisoned beyond the limits of the state, the person may bring the action within three (3) years after the disability is removed. But the time cannot be extended for more than eleven (11) years, nor can any disability accruing after the cause of action accrues be used to extend the limitations period.