Statute of Limitations for False Arrest / False Imprisonment in Arkansas

Overview

In Arkansas, claims involving false arrest and false imprisonment are typically analyzed under the state’s general civil statute of limitations for actions that are not governed by a more specific limitations rule.

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator uses the general/default rule for Arkansas because no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found for false arrest/false imprisonment in the materials used for this jurisdiction brief. That means your starting point is the same baseline period even if the facts sound “tort-like” (for example, a detention after an arrest).

If you’re working with a timeline—say, an incident on March 1, 2023—you generally want to know: how many years after the triggering event you can file, and how to treat “minor” factors like the date of the incident vs. the date you discovered facts (where relevant). The calculator helps you test dates quickly without doing manual arithmetic.

Limitation period

Default (general) statute of limitations in Arkansas

Arkansas applies a 6-year general statute of limitations for the types of actions covered by the general rule.

• General SOL period: 6 years
• Arkansas general statute: **Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-109(b)(2)

Because this is the general/default period, use it as your baseline unless you have reason to believe another statute governs your specific cause of action.

How the deadline typically works (practical approach)

While the exact “trigger” language can depend on the cause of action and case posture, a practical way to manage the deadline is:

1. Identify the key event date
   Commonly, that’s the date of the arrest or date of the alleged unlawful detention (false imprisonment).
2. Add 6 years to that key date to estimate the filing window.
3. Plan for a buffer
   Even if you can calculate an outer deadline, filing well before the calculated last day reduces the risk of administrative delays.

Example timeline (using the general 6-year period)

Assume an alleged wrongful arrest/detention occurred on January 15, 2022. Using the general 6-year rule:

• Estimated SOL end date: January 15, 2028 (plus any nuances depending on how the court counts time)

If you shift the incident date, the end date shifts accordingly—this is exactly what the calculator is designed to do.

Inputs and how outputs change in DocketMath

In DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator for Arkansas, you’ll typically provide dates such as:

• Incident / triggering date (the date you believe started the limitations clock)
• (Optional) other date fields if the tool supports them for your workflow (for example, filing date comparisons)

What changes the output:

• Changing the triggering date moves the estimated deadline by the same number of years.
• Comparing an intended filing date tells you whether you’re likely inside or outside the 6-year window under the general rule.

Key exceptions

Even with a general 6-year rule, exceptions and adjustments can matter. Below are the most common categories that can affect deadlines in Arkansas practice—presented here for planning purposes, not as case-specific legal advice.

1) Accrual/timing disputes

For many claims, parties disagree about when the cause of action accrued—for example, whether the clock starts on the arrest/detention date or later based on the event timeline.

• If your timeline has multiple relevant dates (arrest date, release date, later notice), you’ll want to decide which date best fits your situation for the calculator’s “triggering date.”

2) Tolling (pauses or extends time)

Tolling doctrines can pause the clock or extend it when certain legal conditions exist. These can include situations involving:

• procedural posture,
• certain disability concepts,
• or statutory tolling provisions.

Because tolling is highly fact- and statute-specific, a conservative workflow is:

• calculate the baseline 6-year deadline using DocketMath, and
• then separately evaluate whether any tolling or accrual-specific rules could apply in your scenario.

3) Wrong statute, wrong deadline risk

The biggest practical exception risk here is coverage: if a more specific Arkansas statute governs your particular claim theory, then the “6-year general rule” could be an under- or over-estimate.

This brief is explicit that no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found for false arrest/false imprisonment in the provided jurisdiction data. Still, courts may analyze the claim under different statutory frameworks depending on how it’s pled.

Statute citation

Your baseline limitations rule for Arkansas (general/default) is:

• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-109(b)(2) — 6 years (general statute of limitations period)

DocketMath’s calculator is designed around this general rule for US-AR when no more specific sub-rule is identified for the claim type in the underlying data.

Use the calculator

To confirm your timing using the general 6-year rule, use DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator here:

• /tools/statute-of-limitations

A practical step-by-step workflow:

If your facts involve multiple dates (arrest vs. release; detention spans; administrative proceedings), you can run the calculator more than once—each time using a different candidate triggering date—to see how the output shifts.

Sources and references

Start with the primary authority for Arkansas and confirm the effective date before relying on any output. If the rule has been amended, update the inputs and rerun the calculation.

• Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105

Related reading

• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Vermont — Tool comparison
• Statute of limitations in Singapore: how to estimate the deadline — How-to guide
• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Connecticut — Tool comparison