{"data":{"id":"us-ar/ark.-code-ann.-5-26-201","jurisdiction":"us-ar","citation":"Ark. Code Ann. § 5-26-201","heading":"Bigamy","body":"(a) A person commits bigamy if, being married, he or she purports to marry another person. (b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that at the time of the alleged offense the actor: (1) Reasonably believed that the prior spouse was dead; (2) Had lived apart from the prior spouse for five (5) consecutive years throughout which time the prior spouse was not known to the actor to be alive; (3) Reasonably believed that a court had ordered a valid termination or annulment of the prior marriage; or (4) Otherwise reasonably believed that the actor was legally eligible to marry. (c) Bigamy is a Class A misdemeanor. Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2402; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2402.\n\n(a) A person commits bigamy if, being married, he or she purports to marry another person.\n\n(b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that at the time of the alleged offense the actor: (1) Reasonably believed that the prior spouse was dead; (2) Had lived apart from the prior spouse for five (5) consecutive years throughout which time the prior spouse was not known to the actor to be alive; (3) Reasonably believed that a court had ordered a valid termination or annulment of the prior marriage; or (4) Otherwise reasonably believed that the actor was legally eligible to marry.\n\n(1) Reasonably believed that the prior spouse was dead;\n\n(2) Had lived apart from the prior spouse for five (5) consecutive years throughout which time the prior spouse was not known to the actor to be alive;\n\n(3) Reasonably believed that a court had ordered a valid termination or annulment of the prior marriage; or\n\n(4) Otherwise reasonably believed that the actor was legally eligible to marry.\n\n(c) Bigamy is a Class A misdemeanor.","path":["AR Code","Title 5","Chapter 26","Subchapter 2"],"source_url":"https://oss-data-us.vaquill.ai/v2026.08/us_ar_statutes.parquet","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:41Z","sha256":"904e7cb4636df0819ca03a8c1ac3c3f902dd341e2c69757b269615cf901cfac8","source_id":"us-ar","stale":false,"prev":"us-ar/ark.-code-ann.-5-25-101","next":"us-ar/ark.-code-ann.-5-26-202"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}