An Arkansas burn ban is a county-level restriction on outdoor burning that the county judge puts in place when weather conditions make wildfires likely. Because each of Arkansas’s 75 counties decides for itself, a ban can be active in your county while the county next door has no restrictions at all. Burning during an active ban is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and up to a year in jail.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
How to Find Out If Your County Has a Ban
Start with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division’s online fire information map, which shows current burn ban declarations by county and is updated as county judges issue or lift orders.4Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Wildfire Danger and Burn Bans That map is the most reliable statewide source.
Confirm before you light anything. Call your county judge’s office or the local sheriff’s department. The sheriff typically enforces the ban in unincorporated areas and will know the exact terms of the current order.5American Legal Publishing. Jackson County Code of Ordinances 92.01 – Conditions Under Which Burning Banned Don’t rely on a neighbor’s word, and don’t assume a ban has lifted because it rained overnight. If you live inside city limits, check with your local fire department too, because municipalities can layer their own rules on top of the county’s.
What a Burn Ban Prohibits
A ban targets open burning in unincorporated areas: any fire not enclosed in a non-combustible structure. The activities that most often trigger a citation are the ordinary ones: burning leaves and yard waste, clearing brush, burning debris piles, and agricultural field burns. Under state law, setting fire to any forest, brush, or other flammable material while a ban is active is unlawful burning.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
What’s Still Allowed
Not every flame is off-limits during a ban. County orders generally allow fires that are contained and unlikely to escape:
- Cooking on gas, propane, or charcoal grills.
- Small recreational fires in enclosed fire pits or at established campgrounds, as long as someone stays with the fire.
Arkansas law also provides two specific defenses if you’re charged with burning during a ban. First, if the chief executive of the political subdivision that issued the ban grants you a permit, burning under that permit isn’t a violation. Second, farmers burning crop residue on their own land after harvest have a defense, but only if they disk the field perimeters or take other safety measures the county burn ban officer requires to create a barrier between the fire and adjacent land. Skip that step and the defense is gone, and you’re also on the hook for actual damages to neighboring property.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
Terms vary from county to county. What’s permitted in one county’s order may not be in another’s, even during the same drought.
Penalties for Burning During a Ban
Unlawful burning under Arkansas Code ยง 5-38-310 is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to a year in jail and fines up to $2,500 under state sentencing law.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning2Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence3Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
Counties can add their own fines by ordinance. Jackson County, for example, sets its fine at $25 to $300 per violation, with up to a year in county jail.5American Legal Publishing. Jackson County Code of Ordinances 92.01 – Conditions Under Which Burning Banned Amounts elsewhere depend on the local ordinance.
The criminal fine is often the smaller problem. If your fire escapes and damages a neighbor’s property, you can be liable for actual damages. The unlawful burning statute writes that liability directly into the crop residue exemption, and the same principle applies more broadly to fires set illegally.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning Firefighting response costs and restoration bills add up fast.
When a Burn Ban Ends
Arkansas burn bans usually don’t come with a fixed expiration date. They stay in effect until the county judge lifts them once substantial rainfall or other conditions reduce the fire danger. A Garland County ban issued in March 2026, for instance, was written to continue “until authorization from this office after a substantial rainfall or other conditions create a less hazardous situation.”6Garland County. Garland County – BURN BAN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY Check the Forestry Division map or call the county judge’s office before you assume a ban is over.
Burning When No Ban Is Active
No burn ban doesn’t mean no rules. The Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality requires a permit for open burning in certain situations, particularly when no practicable alternative disposal method exists.7Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ Some counties and cities also require a local permit from the courthouse, city hall, or fire department before you burn yard waste.
Cooking fires, recreational fires in fire pits, yard waste burns, and land-clearing operations are generally allowed outside of a ban, but you’re still responsible for controlling the fire. If it escapes to someone else’s property, the same unlawful burning statute that covers ban violations can reach you.1Justia. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning Call your county judge’s office or local fire department before any significant outdoor burn.