§ 12-41-206 - Determination of applicable law. - Arkansas Statutes

12-41-206. Determination of applicable law.

(a) (1) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, the law of both states regarding rights, duties, liabilities, privileges, and immunities arising from conduct applies to conduct in any part of the justice center.

(2) If, however, it is impossible for a person to conform his or her conduct in the center to the law of both states, that person may choose which state's law governs that conduct.

(3) If a person chooses to conform his or her conduct in the center to the law of the other state, the conflicting law of this state does not apply to that conduct.

(b) The physical plant of the center and equipment and facilities used by personnel of both states employed at the center are constructively present in both states.

(c) Except as provided by subsection (d) of this section, property in any part of the center that is owned by or in the possession of a person in custody or summoned to appear in the center is constructively present in the state under the law of which the person was taken into custody or summoned to appear.

(d) (1) Possession of property that constitutes an offense committed in the center is conduct to which subsection (a) of this section applies.

(2) A person's exercise of a duty in regard to property in the center is conduct to which subsection (a) of this section applies.

(e) Property that is ordered by a court to be produced in the center or that is in the possession of a peace officer or a party to a proceeding for use as evidence before a court holding a proceeding in the center is constructively present in the state of the court.

(f) Property in the center that is not covered by subsection (c), (d), or (e) of this section is constructively present in both states.

(g) (1) The law of a state in which property is constructively present applies to that property to the same extent that such law would apply if the property were actually present in that state.

(2) If property is constructively present in only one (1) state, the law of the state in which the property is not constructively present may be applied to that property only to the extent that such law would apply if the property were actually outside that state.

(h) (1) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, the courts of both states have concurrent jurisdiction over the geographic area of both states in the center, but the state in which a prosecution is first instituted for an offense committed in the center retains jurisdiction to apply that state's law to the exclusion of the other state's jurisdiction, unless the prosecution is terminated without jeopardy attaching under the law of the state of the first prosecution.

(2) For the purposes of this subchapter, a prosecution is commenced in this state on the filing of an indictment, information, or complaint as determined by applicable provisions of Arkansas law.