Austin Potts of Arkansas: New Charges and Probation Revocations

Austin Potts is a Mountain Home, Arkansas man who, as of February 2026, faces a new first-degree terroristic threatening charge in Baxter County and four separate petitions to revoke probation he is serving in Arkansas and Oklahoma. If any of those revocation petitions succeed, he could be ordered to serve the suspended prison time underlying sentences in three jurisdictions.¹

The January 2026 Terroristic Threatening Charge

Potts was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on January 11, 2026, and released the same day on a $10,000 bond. According to a probable cause affidavit, he threatened the estranged husband of a woman he was dating, telling the man he would “put a hot one” in him and that he would “be dead and never see his children again.” Potts also reportedly challenged the man to meet and fight.¹

The alleged victim filed for an order of protection but did not appear at the hearing, and the petition was dismissed on January 21, 2026. Reporting noted that other women had previously sought protective orders against Potts, alleging stalking, harassment, and violent behavior.¹

Because of Potts’s criminal history, prosecutors are pursuing the charge under habitual-offender status, which allows for enhanced sentencing on conviction. His attorney, Ben Burnett, waived arraignment on February 2, 2026, and entered a plea of not guilty.¹

Four Petitions to Revoke Probation

The new arrest triggered revocation proceedings across two Arkansas counties. Prosecutors in Baxter County filed two petitions, one for each of his prior Baxter County cases, alleging that the terroristic threatening arrest violated the terms of his probation. Two more petitions, with warrants of arrest, were filed on January 30, 2026, in the Washington County cases where he had received a ten-year probation sentence. Burnett entered not-guilty pleas on all four petitions at the February 2 hearing.¹

The Baxter County Deputy Assault Case

The first Arkansas probation at risk stems from a September 6, 2020 incident on State Highway 201 near Mountain Home. A Baxter County deputy tried to stop Potts, who led officers on a motorcycle pursuit. When a deputy attempted to use a Taser after Potts stopped but refused to get off the bike, Potts accelerated and struck the officer, knocking him down. He fled on foot and was caught near the Baxter Regional Medical Center parking garage. The deputy was treated and released.²

Potts was charged with second-degree battery, aggravated assault, and fleeing. In September 2021 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation plus sixty days in the Baxter County Detention Center.¹

The Washington County Domestic Violence Case

In late February 2021, while free on bond in the deputy-assault case, Potts was charged in Washington County with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and domestic battery. An ex-girlfriend alleged that he held her against her will in a Fayetteville hotel room, where he battered, choked, headbutted, and shoved her to the floor multiple times. She described a separate incident in Mountain Home in which Potts picked her up in his truck, gripped her shirt to prevent her from jumping out, then drove her to an industrial plant where he pushed, hit, choked, and kicked her. Potts was also accused of trying to run over the woman’s brother with his truck.³

By February 2024, those cases had been resolved with a ten-year probation sentence, supervised out of the Mountain Home office of Arkansas Community Corrections under an interstate compact. Supervision is scheduled to run through February 2034.⁴

The Oklahoma Suspended Sentence

Potts also carries a suspended sentence out of Caddo County, Oklahoma. It grew out of an August 27, 2019 confrontation at Fort Cobb Lake, where he used an aluminum jon boat to ram a bass boat carrying two college freshmen who were fishing near Sunset Cove Marina, causing thousands of dollars in damage. He pleaded guilty in June 2020 to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and three related boating charges, and received a deferred sentence.⁵⁶

He did not complete the deferred sentence. Prosecutors moved to accelerate in March 2023, and after Potts failed to appear for a November 2023 hearing, the court issued a bench warrant and ultimately imposed a two-year suspended sentence at a March 2024 acceleration conference.⁶

What Happens Next

As of the February 2, 2026 hearing, no trial date had been set on the terroristic threatening charge, and the four revocation hearings remained pending. Potts continues to be supervised by the Mountain Home office of Arkansas Community Corrections. A successful revocation on any of the four petitions could send him to prison on the underlying suspended time, regardless of how the new charge is resolved.¹

1
KTLO. Potts Picks Up New Charges and Four Petitions Seeking Revocation of Probation Filed Against Him
2
KAIT8. Man Arrested After Injuring Deputy During Pursuit
3
KTLO. Oakland Man’s Bond Revoked After Being Charged With New Crimes in Northwest Arkansas
4
Ecomm News Network. A Baxter County Man Has Been Sentenced to 10 Years Probation
5
KFOR. Charges Filed Against Man Following Fishermen Feud at Fort Cobb Lake
6
Oklahoma District Court Records. State of Oklahoma v. Austin D. Potts, CF-2019-00192