Most people search “DUI” out of habit. But if you were stopped and charged in Arkansas, your paperwork almost certainly says “DWI.” That’s not a typo, and it’s not a minor technicality. Arkansas law treats these as two distinct charges with different thresholds, different penalties, and different procedural rules. Understanding which one applies to you and why it matters is where any real defense has to start.
At Nelson & Marks PLLC, we’ve spent over 12 years handling impaired-driving cases in Bentonville and throughout Benton County. Attorneys Jonathon Nelson and Thomas Marks both carry experience as former prosecutors, which means we understand exactly how the state builds these cases and where the evidence tends to be most vulnerable. What follows is a plain-language explanation of how Arkansas law actually works.
What Arkansas Law Actually Calls These Charges
Arkansas’s primary impaired-driving statute for adults is Ark. Code § 5-65-103, which covers Driving or Boating While Intoxicated. That’s the charge most adults will see on their citation regardless of what they searched online. The term DUI doesn’t appear in this statute at all.
DUI is a separate, legally distinct offense under Ark. Code § 5-65-303. It applies only to drivers under 21 who register a blood alcohol concentration (BAC, the percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream as measured by a breath, blood, or urine test) of 0.02% or higher but below 0.08%. It’s not a synonym for DWI and not a lesser version of the adult charge. It’s its own offense category with its own penalty structure.
One detail that surprises many younger drivers: if an underage driver registers a BAC of 0.08% or higher, they’re charged under the adult DWI statute at § 5-65-103, not the DUI statute. Age doesn’t shield a driver from the full weight of an adult charge once that threshold is crossed.
How the Charges Differ: Age, BAC, & Penalties
Adult DWI under § 5-65-103
This charge applies to any driver 21 or older with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. It also applies when a driver’s reactions and judgment are substantially impaired even if their measured BAC falls below 0.08%, a theory called impairment-based prosecution. A first offense carries 24 hours to one year in jail, a fine between $150 and $1,000, and a six-month license suspension administered through the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). Subsequent offenses escalate significantly across all three categories.
Underage DUI under § 5-65-303
This charge applies only to drivers under 21 with a BAC between 0.02% and 0.079%. It’s an unclassified misdemeanor with lower fines and no mandatory jail time on a first offense. The license suspension is 90 days. Even so, the consequences aren’t trivial. A conviction can trigger university student conduct proceedings, affect eligibility for certain professional licenses, and follow a young person at exactly the stage when those consequences are hardest to absorb.
Commercial Drivers
Commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders face a DWI threshold of 0.04% BAC, half the standard adult limit. A first offense carries a mandatory one-year CDL disqualification even if the DWI occurred in a personal vehicle. For a truck driver or anyone who holds a CDL, that may be the single most consequential fact in their case.
The Rule That Closes the Easy Exit: No Plea Bargaining in Arkansas
Ark. Code § 5-65-107 prohibits the prosecution from reducing a DWI or DUI charge to a lesser offense through negotiation. In many states, a first-offense DWI can be pleaded down to a “wet reckless” (reckless driving involving alcohol) with significantly lighter consequences. Arkansas closed that door by statute. That outcome simply isn’t available here.
Because the charge can’t be reduced through negotiation, the viable paths to a better outcome are narrower: constitutional challenges that lead to suppression of evidence, or acquittal at trial. That’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to retain attorneys who have the trial experience and the prosecutorial background to identify where the state’s case is genuinely vulnerable.
Two Cases Running at Once: Criminal Court & License Suspension
An arrest for DWI or DUI in Arkansas doesn’t start one legal process. It starts two, running simultaneously under entirely different rules.
The criminal case is heard in Bentonville District Court, which handles misdemeanor DWI charges, traffic violations, and ordinance matters. If a charge escalates to a fourth offense or higher within the applicable lookback period, it becomes a felony and moves to Benton County Circuit Court.
The second proceeding is administrative. An arrest triggers a license suspension through the Arkansas DFA Office of Driver Control, and that process runs independently of the criminal case. A driver must request a hearing with the DFA within a limited window after arrest or the suspension takes effect automatically, regardless of whether the criminal case is still pending or hasn’t gone to trial.
Implied consent law under Ark. Code § 5-65-202 adds another layer. Arkansas drivers implicitly consent to chemical testing by operating a vehicle on state roads. Refusing a test triggers a separate 180-day administrative license suspension on a first refusal, and that refusal can be introduced in the criminal case as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Neither path (testing or refusing) is consequence-free, which is why the decision at the scene has implications that extend well past that moment.
What a Former Prosecutor Sees in These Cases
The no-plea-bargain rule means that pursuing a favorable outcome in a DWI case in Arkansas requires finding and challenging weaknesses in the state’s evidence, not negotiating around them. Having worked as prosecutors before shifting to defense, Jonathon Nelson and Thomas Marks know the specific elements the state must prove and which parts of that proof are most susceptible to challenge. Common vulnerabilities include:
- The officer’s reasonable suspicion for the initial traffic stop
- Whether the Intoxilyzer device was properly calibrated and whether the required observation period before testing was followed
- Errors in how field sobriety tests were administered and scored
- Chain-of-custody issues in blood draw cases
None of these challenges apply in every case. Whether they’re available depends on the specific facts, the arresting officer, the equipment used, and how the stop was documented. That case-specific analysis is what the first conversation with a defense attorney should accomplish.
What This Means If You’re Facing a Charge Now
In Arkansas, the label on your paperwork (DWI or DUI) carries specific legal weight. The charge can’t be bargained down, the administrative suspension clock starts immediately after arrest, and the defense options that exist require early, detailed investigation to pursue effectively. Waiting to see how things develop is itself a decision, and usually not a favorable one.
If you or someone you know is facing a DWI or DUI charge in Bentonville or Benton County, we can walk through the specific facts of your case and explain what options are realistically on the table. Reach us at (479) 202-4541.