Arkansas CCW Renewal: Training, Grace Period, and Fees

An Arkansas CCW renewal opens 90 days before your license’s expiration date, requires a training course with live-fire completed within the previous six months, and costs $52.50 online through the Arkansas State Police.¹² Concealed handgun carry licenses in Arkansas last five years, and filing within that 90-day window keeps your authorization uninterrupted and avoids the $15 late fee.

When to File and the Six-Month Grace Period

Your window opens 90 days before the expiration date printed on your license. Filing inside that window is the clean path: no late fee, no gap in coverage for out-of-state travel, and a buffer if the Arkansas State Police (ASP) needs more information from you.

Miss the deadline and you have six months from your expiration date to file a late renewal. The fee jumps to $67.95 online, which is the standard cost plus a $15 penalty.²¹³

ASP processing can take up to four months, so front-loading matters. Submit early in your window and you have time to fix problems before your card expires.⁴

The Training Requirement Trips People Up

Every renewal requires a training course with a live-fire component. That applies to standard and enhanced licenses alike, and the course must be completed within six months before you submit your renewal application.⁵ Your instructor signs a certification form that goes into your renewal packet.¹

Enhanced license holders take the enhanced course, which runs about four hours of instruction plus a live-fire qualification requiring hits within the 7-ring of a B-27 target at prescribed distances within a time limit.⁶

Time it so the training certificate is still valid when your application lands. The ASP publishes a list of approved instructors on its concealed carry licensing page.

How to File

The ASP takes renewals two ways. Online through chcl.ark.org is the ASP’s preferred method: it’s faster, submits immediately, and lets you track status.⁴ Paper applications go to:

Arkansas State Police, ATTN: CHCL, 1 State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209.

Your packet needs the completed renewal form, the signed training certification from your instructor, your current CHCL number and expiration date, and a digital photo if the ASP can’t pull one from your Arkansas driver’s license.³ The form includes a sworn statement that you still meet all eligibility requirements.

You do not need to arrange a separate background check. The ASP runs a fresh check through the Arkansas Crime Information Center and the FBI as part of every renewal, and the fee is built into the payment.¹

Common processing hang-ups: unclassifiable fingerprints, incomplete criminal history records, missing or unsigned training certificates, and delays responding when the ASP asks for more information.⁴

Renewal Fees

The online renewal is $52.50, which covers both the application and the background check. Standard and enhanced licenses cost the same at renewal, and there is no age-based discount (that discount exists only for new applicants 65 and older).²

Late online renewals within the six-month grace period run $67.95, which includes the $15 penalty.²

The online portal accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and e-checks. Paper filers pay by check or money order to the Arkansas State Police; do not send cash. Walk-in payments can go on a card or check, though a small surcharge applies for card payments.²

Update Your Address or Name First

If you’ve moved or changed your name, notify the ASP in writing within 30 days of the change. The same 30-day rule applies if your license is lost or destroyed.⁷ A mismatch between your license record and your renewal application is one of the easier ways to stall processing. If you’re already inside your renewal window, handle both at the same time.

Why a Renewal Can Be Denied

Because the ASP runs a new background check with every renewal, anything that changed since your last application can surface. The disqualifiers fall into a few categories.

Felony convictions bar firearm possession under Arkansas law, with narrow exceptions for certain completed sentences involving business regulation offenses like antitrust violations.⁸ A violent misdemeanor conviction within the past five years is also disqualifying.⁹

Being adjudicated mentally ill or involuntarily committed to a mental institution disqualifies you.⁸ So does chronic substance abuse that impairs your normal faculties; the law presumes impairment if you’ve been committed for substance abuse treatment or convicted of a controlled substance offense.¹⁰

Your local sheriff or chief of police can submit an affidavit stating you are reasonably likely to be a danger to yourself or others based on documented past behavior or involvement in unlawful violence, and the ASP can deny on that basis. Being under criminal investigation at the time you apply is also grounds for denial.⁹

One often-overlooked trigger: child support arrears. Arkansas law requires the ASP to suspend a concealed carry license when the Office of Child Support Enforcement orders it.¹¹ If your license was suspended for that reason and has since expired, you’ll need to clear the delinquency before you can renew.

If your renewal is denied, you have the right to an administrative hearing under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, and the burden is on you to show you meet the qualifications.³

What an Expired Permit Actually Costs You

Arkansas allows permitless carry for most adults 18 and older who can legally own a firearm. Under the state’s carrying statute, the offense only exists when a person possesses a handgun with the purpose of unlawfully using it against another person.¹² So an expired license does not automatically make you a criminal for carrying inside Arkansas.

What you lose is everything the license actually does for you. Reciprocity is the biggest piece: states that honored your Arkansas permit no longer recognize your authority once it expires, and Arkansas does not maintain a list of which states honor its license, so you have to check with each destination state before traveling.⁴ If you held an enhanced license, you also lose the additional Arkansas locations where enhanced holders can carry.

Within the six-month grace window, the late renewal at $67.95 is far cheaper and simpler than reapplying. Past six months, there’s no shortcut back.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-313 – Expiration and Renewal
2
Arkansas State Police. Welcome to the Arkansas State Police Concealed Handgun Carry Online Licensing System
3
LII / Legal Information Institute. 130.00.19 Arkansas Code R 002 – Arkansas Concealed Handgun Carry License Rules
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Arkansas Department of Public Safety. Concealed Handgun Carry Licensing
5
Code of Arkansas Rules. 5 CAR 1-301 – Training Requirement for Concealed Handgun Carry License
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Arkansas Department of Public Safety. How to Obtain Arkansas Enhanced Concealed Handgun Carry License
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-314 – Lost or Destroyed License, Change of Address
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-103 – Possession of Firearms by Certain Persons
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-308 – License, Issuance or Denial
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-309 – License, Requirements
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Code of Arkansas Rules. 17 CAR 350-606 – Suspension for Nonpayment of Child Support
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Justia. Arkansas Code 5-73-120 – Carrying a Weapon