Arkansas
Arkansas’s Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST) certifies officers and must review an officer’s certification when an agency reports a separation for listed reasons, including excessive force and dishonesty. Since 2023 the State has added 2 hours of dementia training to the basic academy, extended the window for recovering training costs from a hiring agency to 24 months, moved the jail-standards office under CLEST, and changed civil-service hiring and exam rules. CLEST minutes through April 2026 report a rule packet at the Governor’s office for review; it is not in force. No public list of decertified officers is required.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Officer Ledger
At a glance
- Certifying body
- Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST), within the Department of Public Safety and staffed by the Division of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. CLEST sets selection and training standards, issues certificates, and may revoke certification (Ark. Code 12-9-103, 12-9-104, 12-9-106). Since August 5, 2025, the Office of Criminal Detention Facilities Review Coordinator, which writes jail standards, has also sat within CLEST (12-26-103, as amended by Act 953 of 2025).
- Statute
- Ark. Code Title 12, ch. 9: subchapter 1 (commission, standards, and mandated training topics), subchapter 2 (academy, and training-cost reimbursement in 12-9-209), subchapter 3 (auxiliary officers), subchapter 4 (police traffic radar instructors and operators), and subchapter 6 (12-9-601 to 12-9-603: employment and separation notices, certification review) (CLEST statutes). Rules: 12 CAR 1 (CLEST rules).
- Minimum standards
- By statute, no one may be appointed, except temporarily for up to 9 months, without commission-approved training, and anyone who pleads or is found guilty of a felony is ineligible (12-9-106). By rule, an officer must also be a U.S. citizen (or a Compact of Free Association nonimmigrant from the Marshall Islands) and be 21 (20 to attend an academy). The officer must pass fingerprint checks against ACIC, NCIC, and FBI files and have no felony record, even if pardoned or expunged. Good character must be shown by background investigation. The officer needs a high school diploma or GED, a physician’s exam, a pre-hire interview, a psychological exam with a “recommended” finding, a valid driver’s license, firearms qualification, and no misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction (12 CAR 1-106(c)).
- Decertification
- When an agency reports a separation for a reason listed in 12-9-602(b)(2), CLEST “shall review” the officer’s certification and decide whether to suspend or revoke it (12-9-603). The listed reasons are failing minimum qualifications, dismissal for violating law or agency regulations, resigning or retiring during a pending internal investigation, excessive force, and dishonesty. By rule, the commission “may revoke” after written notice and a hearing on nine listed grounds, including dismissal for excessive force or for dishonesty. A person who was decertified, or who surrendered certification in Arkansas or another state, is ineligible until the commission is satisfied by majority vote (12 CAR 1-138). The director may temporarily suspend an officer who fails to meet standards (12-9-108).
- Public decertification list
- No statutory list. CLEST posts commission meeting minutes, 2012 to 2026, that record decertification votes by officer name. The June 9–10, 2026 minutes record 10 officers decertified and 3 not decertified (CLEST minutes).
- National Decertification Index
- None found. No CLEST-posted section of Ark. Code 12-9 (subchapters 1 to 4 and 6) and none of the 38 sections of 12 CAR 1 names the Index or IADLEST. Rule 1-138 makes a surrender or decertification in another state disqualifying but names no database.
- Continuing training
- By rule, at least 24 hours of commission-approved training a year to stay employed, including firearms qualification, duty-to-intervene training, and 4 hours on racial profiling (12 CAR 1-106(c)(12)). Annual duty-to-intervene training is also required by statute (12-9-125, Act 792 of 2021).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Training-cost reimbursement window extended to 24 months; prior paying agency told of rehires
An agency that hires an officer trained at another agency’s expense must reimburse that agency if the hire comes within 24 months of training completion; the window was 18 months. The full cost is owed for a hire within 12 months, and 50% for a hire between 12 and 24 months. The old sliding scale (100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 20%) is struck. Each later employer may be billed, and reimbursable costs include nonrecoverable equipment. Requests must be written, itemized, and sent within 6 months of the rehire. New 12-9-602(a)(1)(B): when an agency reports hiring an officer trained within the last 24 months, the Division “shall notify” the agency that paid for the training. The new employer’s existing duty to ask the Division why the officer left previous employers (12-9-602(c)) is unchanged.
For officers: If you change agencies within 24 months of finishing training, your new agency may owe your former agency for that training.
Civil-service cities: chiefs set exam dates; promotion probation doubled to 12 months
In civil-service cities, police and fire entrance and promotional exams are no longer tied to the first Monday in April or October. They “shall be held as needed,” at a time, date, and frequency set by the police or fire chief. The civil service commission has “only an indirect role”: it may observe an exam but may not interview or proctor. When a vacancy opens and the eligibles list is created as needed, the chief must notify the commission of the exam scheduling within 5 business days. Probation before a promotion is complete rises from 6 to 12 months. Entry probation for police appointees, at least 1 year and no more than 2, is unchanged.
For officers: In a civil-service city, your chief now sets exam dates, and a promotion carries a 12-month probation.
Jail-standards office moved under CLEST
The Office of Criminal Detention Facilities Review Coordinator, which sets minimum standards for local, county, regional, and state criminal and juvenile detention facilities, is now established “within the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training of the” Department of Public Safety. The coordinator now takes assigned duties from the Director of the Division of Law Enforcement Standards and Training instead of the Secretary of Public Safety. The Secretary still hires the coordinator.
For officers: Officer certification rules did not change; CLEST now also houses the office that writes jail standards.
Two hours of Alzheimer’s and dementia training required in the basic academy
As part of CLEST certification requirements, an officer enrolled in a commission-certified basic police academy “shall complete at least two (2) hours” of training on interacting with people who have Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Practicum training counts. The training must cover nine listed topics, including identification, wandering risk, communication, search-and-rescue protocols, and referral to care resources. A qualified medical or mental-health provider must deliver it, using a curriculum approved by the Division with the Criminal Justice Institute.
For officers: If you entered a basic academy on or after January 1, 2024, your training includes at least 2 hours on Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Civil-service cities: appointees picked from the top five; 60-day cap on temporary promotions removed
Civil service commission rules must now let the department head appoint “one (1) of the five (5) standing highest” certified on the eligibility list; the rule had been the three highest. Promotions still come from the top three. The act also removes the 60-day limit on temporary promotions in police and fire departments (14-51-301(b)(8)). Police entry probation, at least 1 year and no more than 2, is unchanged. The act’s other changes apply only to fire departments.
For officers: In a civil-service city, you can be appointed from the top five on the eligibility list, not only the top three.
Not yet in force and pending
- CLEST rule packet: CLEST minutes from 2025 to April 2026 report that rule changes were sent to the Governor’s office for review. The April 14–15, 2026 minutes say: “The packets are still at Governor’s office for review.” The May, June, and July 2026 minutes give no later status. No CLEST rule filing appears in the Arkansas Register from January 2023 to October 2026. Nothing has been adopted. April 2026 minutes
These bills were not enacted: in 2025, HB 1769 (psychological evaluation to become or stay employed as an officer; died in committee), HB 1219 (body-worn cameras; withdrawn), HB 1885 (leave and therapy after a deadly use of force; died in committee), SB 248 (FOIA and personnel records; died in committee), HB 1421 (training reimbursement; withdrawn), HB 1030 (youth mental health first aid for school resource officers), and HB 1621 (FOIA exemption for officials’ personal information); in 2023, HB 1159 (academy hazing; withdrawn), HB 1812 (U-visa policies), SB 537 (part-time officer appointment), and HB 1726 (FOIA rewrite). No 2023–2026 Arkansas bill on officer masks or identification was found.
The official Arkansas Code site could not be read by machine. Statute text here comes from the Westlaw copies CLEST posts, current through the 2023 sessions, plus the 2025 acts.
Checked and unchanged
- Ark. Code 12-9-106 (employment requirements), 12-9-108 (temporary suspension), 12-9-602 (separation reasons, prior-employer inquiry, immunity), and 12-9-603 (certification review): no 2023–2026 amendment, except Act 748’s new 12-9-602(a)(1)(B).
- 12-9-125 (annual duty-to-intervene training, Act 792 of 2021): unchanged. Act 165 of 2023 changed only school employees’ use of force (5-2-605(1)), not officer force.
- 12 CAR 1 (CLEST rules): no Arkansas Register filing for CLEST from January 2023 to October 2026.
- FOIA (Ark. Code 25-19): Acts 36 and 879 of 2023, Act 7 of the 2023 extraordinary session, and Acts 505, 649, and 992 of 2025 do not change how officer personnel or evaluation records are treated.
- Not counted, technical only: Act 176 of 2023 (clarifying words in 12-9-124(a)(1); the part-time officer ratio is unchanged); Act 836 of 2023 (uniforms for Law Enforcement Safety Office staff, 12-9-111(c)); Act 419 of 2025 (cross-references in 12-9-104(17) and 12-9-111(a)); Act 518 of 2025 (Juvenile Code citation in 12-9-113(d)(1)); Act 172 of 2025 (12-26-103(a), not ch. 12-9).
Last updated October 20, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Arkansas officer certification: Officer Ledger,” uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/arkansas (last updated October 20, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.