ArkansasJury Nullification
In Arkansas the court decides every question of law and the jury decides the facts. The standard instruction also speaks to any law a juror already knows. The state constitution allows a nine-juror verdict in civil cases only. Every criminal verdict has to be unanimous.
Overview
Juries in Arkansas
Arkansas settles the question by statute. The court decides every question of law that comes up at trial, the jury takes those decisions as the law of the case, and the jury decides the facts.
The standard Arkansas instruction goes one step past following the judge. It also speaks to any rule of law a juror already knows. What it tells that juror to do is in the Arkansas chapter of the guide.
The Arkansas constitution lets nine jurors return a verdict, but only in a civil case. A criminal verdict has to be unanimous. Where the state writes that rule down is in the chapter.
The Arkansas chapter
What's in the Guide for Arkansas?
Jury selection
How many people sit on an Arkansas criminal jury, when it can be fewer than twelve, and what the court expects of each person it seats.
What the judge tells you
What the Arkansas model instruction tells jurors about following the judge's instructions as a whole, and what it says about any law a juror already knows.
How the verdict works
Why the nine-juror verdict in the Arkansas constitution does not reach a criminal trial, what a general verdict is under state law, and what happens when a jury wants the judge to explain a point of law.
Protections and risks
What the Arkansas courts' own guide for jurors says about standing by your vote in the jury room, and about disagreeing with the law the judge gives you.
The law in plain English
The Arkansas laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statute that gives questions of law to the court, the statutes on deliberation and verdicts, and the free speech and jury trial sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Arkansas's official sources, each one checked. They cover the state code and constitution, the model criminal jury instructions, the judges' benchbook, and the state courts' guide for jurors.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Arkansas?
An Arkansas jury summons calls you to decide the facts of a case. A criminal jury is twelve people, and the parties can agree to fewer when the charge is not a felony.
The Arkansas courts publish their own guide for jurors. It covers what to expect and how to conduct yourself in the jury room, and it says it never replaces the instructions a judge gives in a real case.
The courts' guide covers serving. What the model instruction says about law you already know, how a criminal verdict differs from a civil one, and what the courts say about standing by your vote are covered in the Arkansas chapter of the guide.
Your Arkansas summons
- Sent byThe circuit court of your county
- Names come fromRegistered voters, and in some counties licensed drivers
- It asks you toDecide the facts of a case
- Jury size12; fewer by agreement of the parties where the case is not a felony