Why Arkansas Has No Cap on Personal Injury Damages

Across the river in Tennessee, a jury’s award for pain and suffering gets cut down by statute, capped at $750,000 in most injury cases no matter what twelve jurors decided the harm was worth. In Arkansas, that cannot happen. There is no cap, and there cannot be one without amending the state constitution itself.

For injured people in Little Rock and throughout Arkansas, this is one of the most important and least understood features of the state’s law. Here is where it comes from and what it means for your case.

The constitutional guarantee

Article 5, Section 32 of the Arkansas Constitution provides that no law shall be enacted limiting the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death or for injuries to persons or property. That single sentence, part of Arkansas’s constitution for over a century, is why Arkansas stands apart from the roughly thirty states that cap some category of injury damages.

The provision is not a technicality. The Arkansas Supreme Court has enforced it directly. When the legislature passed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2003, which included a cap on punitive damages, the court struck the punitive cap down in Bayer CropScience v. Schafer in 2011, holding it violated Article 5, Section 32. Attempts to amend the constitution to allow caps, including a proposed ballot measure in 2018, have failed to become law.

What this means for your Arkansas injury case

Juries decide, fully. If an Arkansas jury finds your pain, suffering, disfigurement, or loss of enjoyment of life is worth a given amount, that award stands, subject only to ordinary judicial review, not to a statutory ceiling.

Catastrophic cases are valued on their facts. For victims of the most severe injuries, including paralysis, brain injuries, amputations, and severe burns, the difference between a capped and uncapped system can be enormous. Lifelong suffering is not squeezed into a legislative number.

Insurers know the exposure. Settlement negotiations happen in the shadow of what a jury could do. In a no-cap state, that shadow is longer, which affects how insurance companies value serious cases before trial.

How Arkansas compares to Tennessee

Greer Injury Lawyers practices in both states, and the contrast matters for anyone injured near the state line:

• Non-economic damages: Tennessee caps them at $750,000, or $1,000,000 for statutorily defined catastrophic losses. Arkansas has no cap.
• Punitive damages: Tennessee caps them at two times compensatory damages or $500,000, with exceptions. Arkansas’s punitive cap was held unconstitutional.
• Filing deadline: Tennessee allows one year for injury claims. Arkansas allows three years under Arkansas Code Section 16-56-105.
• Comparative fault: Both states follow a modified comparative fault rule with a 50 percent bar.

Which state’s law applies generally depends on where the injury occurred. A crash on the West Memphis side of the river is a different case, legally, than the same crash a few miles east.

No caps does not mean easy cases

The absence of caps removes an artificial ceiling, but it does not lower the burden of proof. Arkansas defendants and insurers contest liability and damages vigorously, and a jury award is only as strong as the evidence behind it: thorough medical documentation, credible testimony about how the injury changed your life, and in serious cases, life-care planners and economists projecting future losses.

The no-cap rule rewards well-built cases. It does nothing for poorly documented ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Arkansas cap damages in personal injury cases?

No. Article 5, Section 32 of the Arkansas Constitution prohibits laws limiting the amount recoverable for injuries to persons or property, so Arkansas has no caps on compensatory damages in personal injury cases, unlike most states.

Are punitive damages capped in Arkansas?

No. The legislature’s attempt to cap punitive damages in the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2003 was struck down by the Arkansas Supreme Court in Bayer CropScience v. Schafer in 2011 as unconstitutional. Punitive damages still require proof of egregious conduct and remain subject to federal due process limits.

How is Arkansas different from Tennessee for injury claims?

Arkansas has no damage caps and a three-year filing deadline; Tennessee caps non-economic damages at $750,000 to $1,000,000 and allows only one year to file. The state where your injury occurred generally determines which law applies.

Does having no caps mean my case is worth more?

Not necessarily. It means no statute artificially limits what a jury may award for your pain and suffering. The actual value of your case still depends on your injuries, your evidence, the available insurance, and the strength of your legal team’s presentation.

Injured in Arkansas? The law here is on your side. Use it.

Between the three-year filing deadline and the constitutional ban on damage caps, Arkansas gives injured people real advantages, but only well-built cases benefit from them. Greer Injury Lawyers, PLLC represents injury victims throughout Arkansas from our Little Rock office, backed by nearly four decades of trial experience and more than $300 million recovered. Call us today or fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Arkansas law cited includes Ark. Const. Art. 5, Section 32, Ark. Code Section 16-56-105, and Bayer CropScience LP v. Schafer, 2011 Ark. 518. Laws change; consult a licensed Arkansas attorney for advice specific to your situation.