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Release-date estimator · Arkansas law as of October 24, 2026

Arkansas Parole & Release Date Estimator

Compare estimated eligibility dates for a person sentenced to the Arkansas Division of Correction for parole or transfer to post-release supervision. It models one prison sentence for a felony committed on or after January 1, 1994. Some cases require individual review; juvenile results are outside-limit comparisons.

The law in effect on the offense date controls, not the sentencing date.

Search by name or statute number, for example “residential burglary” or “5-64-419.” Use the offense the person was convicted of, not the original charge.

    Use the category shown on the sentencing order or ADC time card. The estimate can only be as accurate as the category chosen.

    Use this only for a separate Chapter 3 conviction, not when an attempted act is an element of the completed offense.

    Did the conviction involve methamphetamine?

    How long is the prison sentence?

    Prison (ADC) time only. Leave out any suspended sentence (SIS) or probation that follows it.

    When was it imposed, and how much jail credit?

    Both appear on the sentencing order. To test a plea offer, enter the expected sentencing date.

    For offenses on or after January 1, 2025, earned release credits accrue in Division of Correction custody, so this wait may not earn them (12 CAR § 60-116(b)). The time still counts as time served.

    Questions that can change the result

    Answer what you know. An unanswered question is not treated as “no”: the estimate shows how a “yes” would change the date.

    Does the sentencing order expressly designate section 16-93-609?

    For the prior residential burglary and sentencing dates described in section 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), a general "100%" notation is insufficient. See Rodgers, 2024 Ark. 176.

    Did the court waive the 70% requirement for a juvenile accomplice under section 16-93-618(c)?

    Did the judge or jury find that the victim was targeted because of membership in a group (a delayed-release finding)?

    The State must charge it and prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and the judge or jury makes a separate finding at sentencing. If found, no release before 80% of the sentence, regardless of good time or credits (Ark. Code §§ 5-4-405, 16-93-612(g)).

    Did someone die as a result of the offense?

    The limits for offenses committed under 18 turn on whether a death actually occurred, not on the name of the offense (Ark. Code § 16-93-621(a)).

    Your estimate

    Enter the offense date, the offense, and the sentence to see the estimate.

    How this estimate works

    1. The offense date decides which law applies

    Arkansas applies the release law in effect on the date of the offense (Ark. Code § 16-93-612). This estimator covers offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994, and reflects the law as of October 24, 2026.

    2. Offenses on or after January 1, 2025

    The Protect Arkansas Act replaced parole with transfer to post-release supervision. A person becomes eligible when time actually served plus earned release credits equals 100% of the term (Ark. Code § 16-93-1804(4)). The group percentages are floors that already assume every possible credit.

    GroupConduct credit capProgram credit capAll creditsClass II + programsConduct onlyNo credits
    100% list (§ 16-93-1802(1))——100%100%100%100%
    85% list (§ 16-93-1802(2))7.5%7.5%85%85%92.5%100%
    50% group (16 CAR § 11-102)25%25%50%56.25%75%100%
    25% group (16 CAR § 11-102)25%50%25%37.5%75%100%

    The percentages in this table assume no presentence jail credit, no delay entering ADC custody, and no additional restriction. Whole-day rounding can change the dates.

    Conduct credits accrue by class: Class I earns one day for each day served, Class II one for every three, Class III one for every seven, and Class IV none. Program credits are earned by completing the programs in the person's case plan, and they count only when the Post-Prison Transfer Board awards them (12 CAR § 60-116; 16 CAR § 23-307). An 85% offense committed by someone previously convicted of an 85% or 100% offense is served at 100% (§ 16-93-1803(c)). Attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy fall in the same group as the completed offense.

    Fifteen statutes were added to the 25% group by emergency rule E2025-6, effective September 12, 2025, and by the permanent amendment, effective February 20, 2026. An emergency rule may be effective for no longer than 120 days (Ark. Code § 25-15-204), this model counts September 12 through January 9 inclusively. Exact expiration and agency continuity near that boundary remain unconfirmed. Several of its entries pair an offense name with the wrong statute number. For offense dates and statutes the rules leave unsettled, the main result uses the 50% group and an alternative shows the 25% result. A Benchbook comparison does not itself override the rule.

    3. Offenses from 1994 through 2024

    Most felonies become eligible for parole after one-third of the sentence (seriousness levels 1–6) or one-half (levels 7–10), with credit for meritorious good time (Ark. Code § 16-93-614). The seriousness level comes from the Sentencing Commission's table, which records each offense's effective dates and notes ranking changes. Good time is earned after sentencing, and may be earned while awaiting transfer: up to 30 days a month in Class I, 20 in Class II, 10 in Class III, none in Class IV. It can cut the required time by at most half (12 CAR § 60-113). The exceptions:

    • Inchoate convictions: A separate felony attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy is generally ranked one seriousness level below the completed offense and is not subject to the legacy 70% rule merely because the completed offense is. Other restrictions, including the 2024 100% list and specifically listed repeat offenses, may still apply. Class D and unclassified target felonies generally produce Class A misdemeanors under Chapter 3, subject to statutory exceptions; those misdemeanor cases are outside this estimator.
    • 70%: first-degree murder, Class Y kidnapping, aggravated robbery, rape, Class Y trafficking of persons, and causing a catastrophe committed after July 28, 1995, with no good time. Methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking committed after April 9, 1999: 70% with good time, but never below 50% (§§ 16-93-612(e), -618).
    • Methamphetamine paraphernalia: offenses under § 5-64-443(b) committed after July 27, 2011 are excluded from § 16-93-618 by subsection (e); the ordinary seriousness-level rules apply before 2025 unless another restriction controls. Former § 5-64-403(c)(5) offenses covered by the methamphetamine rule retain 70% with good time and a 50% floor under former § 16-93-611(a)(3), as amended by Acts 1034 of 2005 and 363 of 2009.
    • No parole: a violent or sex felony by someone with a prior violent or sex felony (§ 16-93-609(a)–(b)); Class B possession of firearms by certain persons committed after April 27, 2021 (§ 16-93-609(c)); and offenses committed during 2024 that are on the 100% list (§ 16-93-609(d)).

    4. Delayed release (80%)

    For listed violent felonies committed on or after July 28, 2021 (murder, first-degree battery, aggravated assault, felony terroristic threatening, terroristic act, arson, and unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle), a proven finding that the victim was targeted because of membership in a group bars release before 80% of the sentence, regardless of good time or credits (Ark. Code §§ 5-4-405, 16-93-612(g)). For 2025-and-later cases, this model applies section 16-93-612(g) as an additional minimum. Time served plus awarded credits must still reach the term; without credits, an 80% finding does not create an 80% release date.

    5. Rounding and jail credit

    The term is counted in calendar days. Required time is rounded up to a whole day and credits are rounded down. Legacy monthly good-time rates are approximated as daily rates; leap years, posting conventions, and ADC records can change exact dates. These rounding conventions are model assumptions, not a claim about ADC software. Additional legacy program or achievement good time under § 12-29-202(d) is not modeled and may produce an earlier date, subject to statutory minimums. Jail credit before sentencing counts as time served (Ark. Code § 5-4-404), but good time and earned release credits are earned only after sentencing, so jail credit does not always move the best-case date up day for day. The Division of Correction's own computation controls.

    6. Offenses committed under 18

    Eligibility comes no later than after 20 years of incarceration when no one died, 25 years for first-degree murder, or 30 years for capital murder (Ark. Code § 16-93-621(a)). The estimate shows an outside limit measured in actual years, not a complete calculation of the earliest juvenile date. Section 16-93-621(a)(3) excludes credits for capital murder, capital rape, treason, and life sentences for first-degree murder. Credits may shorten other juvenile limits; this separate credit calculation is not modeled. A juvenile-accomplice waiver under section 16-93-618(c) also requires review.

    7. What this estimate does not cover

    • Multiple sentences, enhancements, revocations, interrupted custody, and community correction center placements
    • Lost or forfeited credits and class changes after discipline
    • Death sentences; commuted sentences
    • Offenses committed before 1994, and federal or out-of-state sentences
    • Clemency, medical or emergency releases, and the age-60 review for 2025-and-later offenses (Ark. Code § 16-93-1805(b))

    8. Eligibility is not release

    An eligibility date starts a review. For offenses before 2025, the Post-Prison Transfer Board decides whether to release on parole (Ark. Code § 16-93-701); for 2025 and later, whether to transfer to post-release supervision (§§ 16-93-1807, -1808).

    Data and sources

    The offense list and seriousness levels come from the Arkansas Sentencing Commission's 2026 Sentencing Standards Benchbook. Release groups use Ark. Code § 16-93-1802 and 16 CAR § 11-102, with identified catalog and rule-version conflicts flagged for review. The imported catalog is not a certification of every historical offense definition. Statutory restrictions control conflicting rule provisions (16 CAR § 11-101(b)).