Nonprofit compliance in Arkansas

Arkansas has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen volunteers. The Criminal History for Volunteers Act (Ark. Code §§ 12-12-1601 to -1610) lets any organization whose volunteers serve children, the elderly, domestic-abuse victims or people with disabilities register with the Arkansas State Police and request checks with the volunteer’s signed authorization. Checks are mandatory only in specific settings: licensed child care and out-of-school-time programs (by licensing rule), licensed child welfare agencies such as foster placement agencies and residential homes (Ark. Code § 9-28-409), and public-school registered volunteers who coach (Ark. Code § 6-17-414, as amended by Act 792 of 2023).

• Criminal History for Volunteers Act (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 12-12-1601 to 12-12-1610 (Act 1778 of 2005)) — Lets a volunteer organization serving children under 16, people 65 or older, domestic-abuse victims or people with disabilities register with the Arkansas State Police and, with the volunteer’s signed authorization, receive Arkansas convictions, pending Arkansas felony arrests and sex-offender registration status. An FBI fingerprint check is optional; the State Police reviews it against the organization’s filed list of disqualifying offenses and reports only whether the volunteer qualifies. Requests must be kept at least three years and results kept confidential.
• School coaching volunteers (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-414(a), (b) (Act 792 of 2023); § 6-22-105) — A public school board must require a registered volunteer who is obtaining a coaching certificate or will coach students to pass state and FBI fingerprint checks and a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check before any unsupervised contact with students; the volunteer pays unless the board does. Districts that run a registered-volunteers program must require a fingerprint check dated within 90 days and training before significant unsupervised contact.
• Child Welfare Agency Licensing Act checks (Ark. Code Ann. § 9-28-409 (Act 269 of 2021; Act 186 of 2023)) — Volunteers with direct and unsupervised contact with children in a licensed child welfare agency, including foster placement agencies and residential and group homes, need a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check, a State Police check and an FBI fingerprint check, and may not begin volunteering until the checks are complete.
• Child care licensing rules (20 CAR §§ 1025-209, 1025-210, 1025-404, 1026-304, 1027-101(4)(C), 1027-110, 1027-111, 1027-305, 1028-108) — Licensed childcare centers, family homes and out-of-school-time programs, including summer day camps, must have a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check on file for volunteers with routine contact, renewed every two years in centers, out-of-school-time programs and registered family homes (§§ 1025-209, 1027-110, 1028-108), and day programs running three weeks a year or less need no license (§ 1027-101(4)(C)); volunteers left alone with children, counted in ratios or given supervisory or disciplinary control are treated as staff and also need fingerprint checks every five years.
• Registered offender working with children prohibited (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-14-129) — A Level 3 or Level 4 registered sex offender commits a Class D felony by engaging in an occupation or participating in a volunteer position that requires working or interacting primarily and directly with children under 16.
• Mandated reporting of child maltreatment (Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-402) — Names volunteer roles including domestic violence shelter volunteers, CASA volunteers, victim assistance volunteers, volunteers at a reproductive healthcare facility and school volunteer coaches or directors age 21 or older; since Act 727 of 2023 any person 18 or older who observes abuse, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child must report. Reports go immediately to the Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-482-5964.
• Who it reaches: Volunteers with direct and unsupervised contact with children in a licensed child welfare agency (foster placement agencies, residential and group homes): registry, State Police and FBI checks before starting (Ark. Code § 9-28-409); Volunteers with routine contact with children in licensed childcare centers, family homes and out-of-school-time programs: Child Maltreatment Central Registry check before starting and every two years, plus State Police and FBI fingerprint checks if left alone, counted in ratio or given supervisory or disciplinary control (20 CAR pts. 1025-1028); Public-school registered volunteers who coach or are obtaining a coaching certificate: state and FBI fingerprint checks and a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check before unsupervised contact with students (Ark. Code § 6-17-414, Act 792 of 2023); Division of Children and Family Services volunteers with direct and unsupervised contact with children: registry and State Police checks, FBI if not an Arkansas resident for five years, renewed every two years (9 CAR § 40-203); Registered volunteers in a school district that runs a registered-volunteers program: fingerprint check dated within 90 days before significant unsupervised contact with students (Ark. Code § 6-22-105); Optional, not required: any other volunteer who serves children, people 65 or older, domestic-abuse victims or people with disabilities, through the Criminal History for Volunteers Act (Ark. Code §§ 12-12-1601 to -1610); Optional, not required: volunteers at nursing homes, home health, hospice and disability service providers, whom Ark. Code § 20-38-101 excludes from its check mandate; Optional, not required: youth sports coaches outside schools; Arkansas requires only annual injury-prevention training for coaches of children 14 and under in high-risk sports on public property (Coach Safely Act, Act 642 of 2023); Optional, not required: staff and volunteers at an overnight temporary camp, which is exempt from child welfare licensing (9 CAR § 31-101(14)(B)).
• Check types in use: Arkansas State Police name-based check under the volunteer act: Arkansas convictions, pending Arkansas felony arrests and sex-offender registration status (form ASP-122VOL, $10.00); FBI fingerprint check through the State Police ($20.00 for Arkansas plus FBI on ASP-122VOL; non-government organizations get a qualified or not-qualified result, not the FBI record); Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry check (DHS; $10.00 per request plus a $1 online fee, waived for nonprofits that upload 501(c)(3) proof; required every two years in licensed child care, out-of-school-time and child welfare settings); Adult Maltreatment Registry check (DHS online request, signature and payment); National Sex Offender Registry check (included in the DESE Office of Early Childhood online state and federal check for licensed child care programs); Out-of-state registry and criminal checks for anyone who lived outside Arkansas in the past five years (child care and child welfare rules).
• Administered by: Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau (volunteer checks); Department of Education Office of Early Childhood (child care licensing and background checks); Department of Human Services (Child Maltreatment Central Registry, Adult Maltreatment Registry, child welfare agency licensing).

Arkansas requires a charitable organization to register with the Secretary of State before soliciting, filing the state’s registration form and its IRS exemption documents (Ark. Code § 4-28-402, as amended by Act 727 of 2017); we found no registration fee. Registered charities file an annual financial report with their IRS return (or a state form if they file none) within 180 days after the fiscal year ends (§ 4-28-403(a)(1)(A), as amended by Act 137 of 2019); contributions over $1,000,000 require a CPA-audited financial statement and $500,000 to $1,000,000 a CPA review (§ 4-28-403(b), as amended by Acts 338 and 708 of 2023). Charities that neither intend to receive nor receive more than $50,000 a year, pay no officer or member and are run entirely by unpaid people, as well as religious organizations and schools (categories per the Secretary of State’s instructions), can apply for an exemption, but since 2017 the statute exempts them from annual reporting, not from registering.

• An all-volunteer Arkansas charity that receives $50,000 or less a year and pays no officer or member still registers with the Secretary of State but can apply to skip the annual financial report (Ark. Code § 4-28-404(6), as amended by Act 338 of 2023); the Secretary of State’s instruction sheet still shows the older $25,000 figure, an August 1 deadline and a full filing exemption, so confirm with that office.
• Soliciting residents of other states can trigger registration in those states regardless of where you are based — an online donate button reaches all fifty.
• Exemptions exist in most registering states (small organizations, religious organizations, membership appeals) but they are specific and usually must be claimed rather than assumed.
• Confirm current requirements with your state charity office before relying on this — thresholds and exemptions are amended frequently.

These apply regardless of which state you operate in, and they are the ones most commonly missed by small organizations that assume state registration is the whole picture.

• Annual Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N. Three consecutive years of non-filing revokes exempt status automatically — this is the single most common way small nonprofits lose their status.
• If you run background checks on volunteers, the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies to you as a user of consumer reports: a standalone written disclosure, separate written authorization, and the pre-adverse and adverse action sequence before acting on a result.
• Public disclosure: your exemption application and recent 990s must be made available on request.
• Employment obligations attach to paid staff regardless of exempt status — payroll tax, worker classification, and wage and hour law all apply.