Strict Liability vs. the One-Bite Rule in Arkansas

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Arkansas's terminology can be genuinely confusing: its courts use the phrase "strict liability," but only once a specific knowledge requirement is met — making Arkansas a hybrid, not a clean strict-liability state like those with a bite-specific statute.

What "strict liability" means in Arkansas, specifically

In Strange v. Stovall, 546 S.W.2d 421 (Ark. 1977), the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected a jury instruction suggesting the owner of a known-vicious dog need only use "ordinary care" to prevent it from injuring someone. The court held this misstated Arkansas law: once an owner's knowledge of a dog's dangerous propensity (scienter) is established, the owner's liability is strict — reasonable care isn't a defense at that point.

The trigger is knowledge, not the bite itself

This is the key difference from a true statutory strict liability state like Arizona: there, the bite alone triggers liability, regardless of the dog's history. In Arkansas, you must first establish the owner knew (or should have known) the dog was dangerous. Only then does the strict standard from Strange v. Stovall apply.

Without that knowledge, it's ordinary negligence

If you can't establish the owner's prior knowledge, Arkansas courts have been clear that negligence — not strict liability — is the correct framework. You'd need to show the owner failed to exercise reasonable care given what a reasonable person would have known or done under the circumstances, a meaningfully harder case to build.

A narrow local exception

At least one Arkansas county has adopted a local ordinance imposing genuine strict liability regardless of the dog's known history — but this is the exception, not the statewide rule, and most of Arkansas still runs on the scienter/negligence framework described above.

This is general information, not legal advice. Which standard applies, and how strong your evidence is under it, depends on the specific facts. Confirm your situation with a licensed Arkansas attorney.