Arkansas offers bar reciprocity to attorneys licensed in 25 other jurisdictions through a process called Admission on Motion under Rule XVI. If your licensing state is on the list, you have five years of active practice behind you, a clean record, and $1,500 for the application fee, you can be admitted without sitting for the Arkansas bar exam.
The 25 Reciprocal Jurisdictions
The Arkansas State Board of Law Examiners recognizes these jurisdictions as reciprocal:1Arkansas Judiciary. List of Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Jurisdictions
- Alaska
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
- Wisconsin
California, Florida, and Virginia are not on the list. If your license comes from a non-reciprocal state, Admission on Motion is closed to you, and your options narrow to sitting for the Arkansas bar exam or handling individual matters pro hac vice.
The Two-Year Location Trap
Holding the right license isn’t enough on its own. Rule XVI requires that a reciprocal jurisdiction have been your principal place of business for the two years immediately before you apply.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI An attorney licensed in Texas but working physically out of a California office for the past two years, for example, may not qualify. Check where you have actually been practicing, not just where your license was issued.
There is one carveout. For applicants who have been on continuous active-duty military service for five of the preceding seven years, the Board may waive the two-year residency-in-a-reciprocal-jurisdiction requirement.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI
Practice, Education, and Ethics Requirements
You must have been primarily engaged in the active practice of law for five of the seven years immediately before you file. That practice has to have taken place in a jurisdiction where you were admitted, or where the work was affirmatively permitted for lawyers not admitted there. Work that constituted unauthorized practice anywhere is excluded outright.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI
Rule XVI defines active practice broadly: private practice representing clients, government or military legal work, teaching at an ABA-accredited law school, service as a judge in a court of record, judicial clerkships, and corporate counsel work all count. Two carveouts matter. Judicial clerkships and corporate counsel work performed inside Arkansas before you are admitted to the Arkansas bar do not count toward the five years.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI
You also need a Juris Doctor from a school that was ABA-accredited when you graduated, and a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. Confirm the current MPRE score threshold with the Board of Law Examiners when you apply, as it is set by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
One more disqualifier: if you failed the Arkansas bar exam within the five years before filing, you cannot use Admission on Motion.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI The motion process is not a workaround for a recent unsuccessful attempt.
What You File and What It Costs
The application package pulls documents from several places, so start early. You will need:
- An NCBE character and fitness report. The National Conference of Bar Examiners investigates your professional history, financial background, and any disciplinary matters. Initiate this first because it drives the overall timeline.
- Certificates of good standing from every jurisdiction where you hold or have held a license, showing no pending complaints or suspensions.
- Official MPRE score verification.
- The Board’s application forms, filled out to match the details in your background reports. Discrepancies slow everything down.
Send the completed package to the Arkansas State Board of Law Examiners with a non-refundable $1,500 fee. Incomplete submissions are returned.
Review, Certification, and the One-Year Deadline
Review typically runs several months. Some applicants are asked to sit for a personal interview about their practice history or background; it is not automatically a bad sign, but it adds time.
Once satisfied, the Board certifies your eligibility and recommends admission to the Arkansas Supreme Court. From that point you have one year to file the Petition and Oath with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and pay the licensing fees. If you miss the year, the application dies and you start over with another $1,500.2Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVI The final step is a swearing-in before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
If You Don’t Qualify
Two limited alternatives exist for attorneys who fall outside Rule XVI.
Pro hac vice admission under Rule XIV lets you appear in an Arkansas court for a specific case. The fee is $200 per case, paid to the Bar of Arkansas, and a local Arkansas attorney must sponsor your appearance.3Arkansas Judiciary. Rule XIV Practice by Comity Pro Hac Vice Appearance Information and Payment Form This is case-by-case; you cannot use pro hac vice to build a general Arkansas practice.
Attorney spouses of active-duty military members stationed in Arkansas can apply for temporary admission under Rule XVII, adopted in 2019. The admission lasts 24 months and can be renewed through successive applications. You must be admitted in at least one other U.S. jurisdiction, meet the same educational standards as other applicants, have no pending disciplinary matters, and not have failed the Arkansas bar exam within the past five years. Provide a marriage or civil union certificate and your spouse’s military orders showing a permanent change of station to an Arkansas installation. Temporary admission ends automatically 30 days after your spouse separates, retires, or receives orders to another state, and you must inform every client at the start of representation that you are practicing under the military spouse exception.4Justia Law. In Re Rules Governing Admission to the Bar – Rule XVII Military Spouse Temporary Admission