What changed in Arkansas
Insurance law does not sit still, but most guides are written once and left alone. Repealed programs and retired forms keep circulating for years. This is what actually changed inArkansas, when, and where to verify it.
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August 5, 2025
Minimum coverageSurplus lines insurance now counts as compulsory coverage and as proof of financial responsibility
Act 345 of 2025 (SB276) ran the phrase "or eligible" through the financial responsibility chapter. Arkansas Code § 27-22-104(a)(1)(B) now accepts a policy from an insurance company "authorized or eligible to do business in this state" as the compulsory liability coverage, and §§ 27-19-605, 27-19-712 and 27-19-713 were amended the same way so a surplus lines carrier's policy can also back a bond, a certificate of insurance filed with the Office of Driver Services, and the definition of a motor vehicle liability policy. The Act also widened the definition of "insurer" in the Arkansas Online Insurance Verification System Act (§ 27-22-202(4)) to match. The Governor approved it on March 20, 2025; it carries no emergency clause, so it took effect with the rest of the session's general acts 90 days after the General Assembly adjourned sine die. The governor signed it on 2025.03.20; with no emergency clause it took effect on 2025.08.05, ninety days after the session adjourned.
Arkansas State Legislature — Acts 2025, No. 345 (SB276), enrolledAugust 1, 2023
Crash reportingCrash reporting threshold tripled from $1,000 to $3,000
Act 815 of 2023 (HB1633) amended Arkansas Code § 27-53-202(a)(1). A driver now has to notify the nearest law enforcement agency immediately only when someone is injured or killed or total property damage reaches an apparent $3,000, up from $1,000. Guides still quoting $1,000 for the police call are describing the pre-2023 law. What the Act did not touch is the second, quieter duty: § 27-19-501 still requires an SR-1 crash report to the Office of Driver Services within 30 days whenever damage to any one person's property exceeds $1,000 or anyone is hurt, so the $1,000 line survives on the paperwork side. The Governor approved the Act on April 13, 2023; it carries no emergency clause, so it took effect with the rest of the session's general acts 90 days after the General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 1, 2023. The governor signed it on 2023.04.13; with no emergency clause it took effect on 2023.08.01, ninety days after the session adjourned.
Arkansas State Legislature — Acts 2023, No. 815 (HB1633), enrolledAugust 1, 2023
Moving hereNew residents got 60 days to register instead of 30
Act 41 of 2023 (HB1150) doubled every registration clock in the chapter. A new resident now has 60 calendar days from becoming a resident to obtain an Arkansas registration and license plate rather than 30 (§ 27-14-723(a)); a business starting up here gets the same 60 days (§ 27-14-723(c)(2)(A)); a buyer has 60 days after a transfer or after a lienholder releases the title to register the vehicle (§ 27-14-903(a)); a vehicle passing to someone other than by voluntary transfer may be driven 60 days before it needs a plate (§ 27-14-907(a)(1)); and a temporary paper buyer's tag is now good until the sixtieth day after purchase (§ 27-14-1705(b)(1)). The Governor approved the Act on February 9, 2023; it carries no emergency clause, so it took effect with the rest of the session's general acts 90 days after the General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 1, 2023. The governor signed it on 2023.02.09; with no emergency clause it took effect on 2023.08.01, ninety days after the session adjourned.
Arkansas State Legislature — Acts 2023, No. 41 (HB1150), enrolledAugust 16, 2013
SR-22The three-year term for an Arkansas SR-22 was repealed and never replaced
Act 1142 of 2013 (HB1715), a cleanup bill for obsolete provisions in Title 27, repealed Arkansas Code § 27-19-721. That was the section that told the Office of Driver Services to consent to cancellation of a bond or certificate of insurance, or waive the filing requirement, "at any time after three (3) years from the date the proof was required" if no disqualifying conviction had come in during those three years. The same Act repealed § 27-19-717 (cash or securities as an alternative proof), § 27-19-719 (substitution of proof) and § 27-19-720 (other proof may be required). Nothing was put in their place. What is left of the subchapter says only that a driver whose license was suspended or revoked must "give and thereafter maintain" proof of financial responsibility for the future (§ 27-19-703(b)), and the department's own rules on the SR-22 (27 CAR §§ 30-182 through 30-185) set no term either. Comparison sites that state flatly that an Arkansas SR-22 must be carried for three years are quoting a statute that has not existed since August 16, 2013.
Arkansas State Legislature — Acts 2013, No. 1142 (HB1715), enrolled
What this list does and does not cover
Recorded here: changes to the rules this site tracks for Arkansas — liability minimums, SR-22 and proof-of-insurance requirements, penalties for driving uninsured, the fault system, what a lapse costs, new-resident deadlines and crash reporting. Each entry names the session law or statute that made the change and the date it took effect, not the date it was signed.
Not recorded: rate filings, individual insurer decisions, court rulings that do not change the text of the law, and changes to rules outside those seven subjects. A short list does not mean a quiet legislature — it means little moved in the parts of Arkansas law a driver has to comply with.
A change that has passed but has not yet taken effect is not shown as current anywhere on this site. It sits on the Arkansas pages as a dated pending value and replaces the current figure on the morning it comes into force. You can see every pending change across the country at the top of the national change feed, and the sources behind the Arkansas figures on its statute index.