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Arkansas: post-conviction forms and deadlines.

These are the four forms a woman convicted in Arkansas can use to ask a court to look at her conviction or sentence again, with the deadline we found for each. Download them, or ask us to mail them to her in prison, free. Not sure which applies? Find her step first.

Paper 01 · State court

Rule 37 petition for post-conviction relief

Ark. R. Crim. P. 37.1-37.5
Deadline90 days after judgment if there was no appeal (including guilty pleas); 60 days after the appeal mandate, or 60 days after an appeal is dismissed

Required form or format. Rule 37.1(c) prints a sworn affidavit that must be signed before a notary and filed with the petition. The clerk will not accept a petition without it. The petition may be no longer than 10 pages, 30 lines per page and 15 words per line, with side margins of at least 1.5 inches and top and bottom margins of at least 2 inches. Read it →

Most states allow only one post-conviction petition, so a claim left out may be lost. The federal one-year clock keeps running until this petition is filed. Ask the court in writing to appoint a lawyer, and write to an innocence organization before she files.

State court forms →Read the rule →
Paper 02 · Federal court

Petition for writ of habeas corpus

28 U.S.C. § 2254 · filed in the Eastern or Western District of Arkansas
DeadlineGenerally 1 year from when her conviction became final. If she appealed, that is when the appeal ended plus the 90 days she had to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review it, or when that Court decided, if she asked. If she did not appeal, as after many guilty pleas, it is when her time to appeal ran out. The clock pauses only while a state post-conviction petition filed on time is pending; a late state petition does not pause it, and neither does a federal petition. Every day before she files in state court counts, and a longer state deadline does not protect her federal rights. See the count worked out with dates. If the year is nearly gone, ask a lawyer about a protective petition: filing in federal court early and asking the judge to put the case on hold while the state courts finish.

Some federal courts use their own version of this form. Check the court’s website before filing.

Download federal Form AO 241 →Find the federal court →
Paper 03 · Sentence review

Sentence review by a panel of judges

DeadlineNot applicable

We did not find a separate sentence review panel in Arkansas. Confirm with the court clerk.

Paper 04 · Sentence modification

Petition to correct or reduce sentence

Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-111
DeadlineSame as Rule 37.2(c) limits; illegal sentence may be corrected at any time
Read the rule →

File the judiciary's Criminal Appeal & Post-Conviction Relief in Circuit Court cover sheet with the petition. Send the sentencing judge a letter with copies showing that the prosecutor was served, and file a copy of that letter with the clerk. All grounds must be in the first petition.

All Arkansas court forms: state court forms page →

We will mail them to her.

Write to us and we will print the Arkansas forms and mail them to her at no cost.

Ask us to mail them →

Or email help@womensinnocenceclinic.com. Print our guide for her. Each facility sets its own mail rules. If her facility returns our mail, we will let you know.

Send us:

  1. Her full legal name
  2. Her ID or DOC number
  3. Her facility’s name and full mailing address
  4. The state, county and case number
  5. Her sentencing date, and her appeal and filing dates
  6. Which forms she needs
  7. Your name, your relationship to her, and how to reach you

Last checked Sept. 24, 2026 against the rule or statute cited above. Forms, rules and deadlines change, and exceptions apply. Deadlines are copied from each state’s rule, in the rule’s own words. Confirm every deadline with the court clerk or a lawyer before filing. This is information, not legal advice.

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