Arkansas Hunting Violation Fines, Points, and Restitution

Arkansas hunting violation penalties run from a $100 fine for a minor Class 1 regulation offense to five years in federal prison for interstate wildlife trafficking under the Lacey Act. In between sit wildlife restitution payments, points that suspend your license, and a compact that makes an Arkansas suspension good in 47 states. What you actually pay depends on which law you broke, whether you had a weapon, and what animal was involved.

AGFC Violation Classes and Fines

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission sorts regulation violations, things like bag limits, season dates, tagging, and method of take, into five classes. The first two look like this:

Class 1: $100 to $1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail.
Class 2: $250 to $2,500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.

Classes 3 through 5 escalate from there, with Class 5 reserved for the worst offenses.¹ Court costs and administrative fees get added on top of the base fine, and even a Class 1 conviction feeds the point system below, which can cost you your license separately from anything the court orders.

Points and License Suspension

Every AGFC conviction adds points to your record. The values track the offense class:

Class 1: 6 points
Class 2: 12 points
Class 3: 18 points
Class 4: 30 points
Class 5: 99 points

Points attach when you plead guilty, plead no contest, forfeit bond, or are convicted. They stay on your record for five years and then expire.² Federal wildlife convictions committed in Arkansas count toward your Arkansas total, and so do convictions from other states in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. A single Class 5 offense at 99 points is enough on its own to put your privileges at risk; smaller violations can also stack over the five-year window until you find out at a license check that you no longer have valid privileges.

Wildlife Restitution

If the violation involves killing an animal illegally, the court can order you to pay restitution to the state on top of the fine. Current ranges include:

Elk: $750 to $2,500
White-tailed deer: $300 to $600
Black bear: $250 to $750
Wild turkey: $250 to $500

The exact figure within each range depends on the animal’s size and trophy quality.³ Poaching an elk can easily push combined restitution and fine into the thousands before court costs.

Criminal Trespass While Armed

One of the easier ways to catch a criminal charge as a hunter is walking onto someone else’s land with a weapon. Under Arkansas Code 5-39-203, criminal trespass while in possession of a “killing device,” which covers firearms, bows, and similar hunting weapons, is a Class A misdemeanor. That means up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁴⁵ Trespass without a weapon is a lesser offense. Trespass with a rifle is not.

Interfering With a Lawful Hunt

Arkansas Code 5-71-228 makes it a crime to willfully obstruct or impede someone’s lawful hunting, fishing, or trapping. “Willfully” is doing the work in that statute; accidental interference or a verbal disagreement does not qualify.⁶ The penalty splits on whether the offender was armed:

With a firearm: Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.⁷⁵
Without a firearm: Class B misdemeanor, up to 90 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines.⁷⁵

If the person convicted holds an Arkansas hunting, fishing, or trapping license, the license is revoked automatically. The statute makes the revocation mandatory, not discretionary.⁶ A landowner or lessee telling someone to stop hunting on their property is not interfering; that is a separate exception written into the law.

How an Arkansas Suspension Follows You Out of State

Arkansas belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a 47-state agreement under which a suspension in one member state is honored in every other member state.⁸⁹ Lose your privileges here and you lose them almost everywhere. The reverse works too: a conviction in another compact state can suspend your Arkansas license.

The compact defines suspension broadly, including revocation, denial, and even the withdrawal of the privilege to apply for or purchase a license. Buying a nonresident tag in a neighboring state is not a workaround.

When Federal Lacey Act Penalties Apply

Once illegally taken wildlife crosses state lines or enters interstate commerce, the federal Lacey Act comes into play. It creates two tiers based on what the offender knew:

Felony: If you know the wildlife was taken illegally and you import, export, or engage in a commercial transaction involving wildlife worth more than $350, the penalty is up to five years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine per violation.¹⁰
Misdemeanor: If you should have known but did not actually know, up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.¹⁰

Civil penalties can reach $33,181 per violation for the most serious offenses.¹¹ For Arkansas hunters, the realistic scenario is selling or transporting illegally taken deer, bear, or elk across a state line. Even handing poached game to a friend in another state can trigger Lacey Act exposure if prosecutors can prove the knowledge element.

Reporting a Violation

Suspected poaching or other wildlife crimes can be reported to the AGFC enforcement division. If interstate trafficking or federal law may be involved, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes tips at 1-844-FWS-TIPS (1-844-397-8477) and through an online form.¹² Tips that lead to a successful investigation may qualify for a reward through the Lacey Act Reward Account. Include the location, date, what you saw, and any photos or video.

1
AGFC. 01.00-I – Penalties Upon Conviction
2
AGFC. 01.00-K – Point System For Violations of Commission Regulations
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AGFC. Q1.01 – Restitution Values For Wildlife Species
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-39-203 – Criminal Trespass
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines
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Arkansas Code. Arkansas Code 5-71-228 – Unlawful Interference With Hunting, Fishing, or Trapping
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Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence
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AGFC. Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact
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National Center for Interstate Compacts. Wildlife Violator Compact
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 U.S. Code 3373 – Penalties and Sanctions
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eCFR. 50 CFR 11.33 – Adjustments to Penalties
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Speaking Up for Wildlife: How to Report Wildlife Crime