First-Offender Act Eligibility With an Arkansas DWI-Drugs Charge
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Managing Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed January 1, 2026
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I got a dwi - drugs, tampering with evidence, and failure to maintain control. Can I still get first felony act?
Attorney Answer
Not for the DWI. Arkansas law bars first-offender treatment on that count outright — but your tampering charge is a separate question with a different answer.
The bar is not buried in the First Offender Act; it sits in the DWI chapter. Arkansas Code § 5-65-108(a) provides that "a circuit court judge or district court judge may not utilize the first-time offender probation provisions under § 16-93-301 et seq. when the defendant is charged with violating § 5-65-103." A DWI-drugs charge is a § 5-65-103 charge — the statute reaches drug impairment through its definition of intoxication — so First Offender Act treatment is off the table for that count no matter how clean your record is. Section 5-65-108(b) permits only probationary supervision layered on top of the mandatory DWI penalties, for monitoring compliance.
That bar is charge-specific. Tampering with evidence is not a § 5-65-103 violation, so it is not swept up by § 5-65-108 and can still be evaluated for First Offender Act treatment under § 16-93-301 et seq. on its own terms. Failure to maintain control is a separate traffic count again. Anyone who tells you "you can get first offender on the whole case" is wrong about the DWI half.
What you can do
1. Ask your lawyer to analyze each count separately for First Offender Act eligibility rather than treating this as one package. The counts do not rise and fall together. 2. Ask specifically what disposition is realistically available on the tampering count standing alone, and what that would leave on your record. 3. Check any license paperwork you were given. If a suspension notice was served, its hearing-request deadline is measured in days, not weeks, and it runs separately from the criminal case. 4. Gather the treatment or screening documentation early. Section 5-65-108(b) contemplates supervision on top of DWI penalties, and courts look at what you have already done. 5. Do not let anyone put a plea decision to you before you have this count-by-count analysis in writing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does it matter that this was drugs rather than alcohol?
Not for eligibility. Section 5-65-108(a) bars first-offender probation for anyone charged with violating § 5-65-103, and § 5-65-103 reaches drug impairment through the definition of intoxication. The bar applies the same way.
What is the point of probation at all if the First Offender Act is unavailable?
Section 5-65-108(b) allows a court to impose probationary supervision in addition to the mandatory DWI penalties, for the limited purpose of monitoring compliance. It supervises you through the sentence; it does not hold adjudication in abeyance the way § 16-93-301 relief does.
If the DWI count is later dropped, does that reopen first-offender treatment?
The bar in § 5-65-108(a) is written around being charged with violating § 5-65-103, so what is actually pending at the time of disposition matters. That is a question for your lawyer against the live charging document, not something to assume in advance.
