Parental Rights in Arkansas

Arkansas Parental Rights News

Reasonable Childhood Independence, with Lenore Skenazy

By N/A N/A • September 29, 2026
Lenore Skenazy, President of Let Grow and founder of the Free-Range Kids movement, joins Michael Ramey to discuss a recent Virginia case involving a mother who was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after allowing her five-year-old son to walk alone in their gated community. She received a six-month jail sentence that was suspended, while the child welfare investigation also resulted in her placement on Virginia’s child abuse and neglect registry.  The conversation examines the case in light of Virginia’s 2023 reasonable childhood independence law, which provides that allowing children to engage in age-appropriate independent activities without adult supervision does not, by itself, constitute abuse or neglect. Lenore and Michael discuss what happened in this case, the questions it raises about the application of the law, and the broader effort to protect families who give children opportunities for independence. They also consider similar laws in other states and the future of reasonable childhood independence protections. The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, President of the Parental Rights Foundation. Stay informed on parental rights news by signing up for email alerts at https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/get-involved/ .

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Arkansas State Law

Not Explicitly Define and Protected


Arkansas does not have a state statute that explicitly defines and protects parental rights as fundamental rights.


Arkansas does have various laws on the books that are supportive of parental rights.

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Arkansas Courts

Affirmed


Parental rights are affirmed in Arkansas Supreme Court case precedent as a fundamental right for which strict scrutiny must be applied.

Additional case law precedent includes:
  • In Graham v. Matheny, 346 S.W.3d 273 (Ark. 2009), the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court wrote a footnote in his concurring opinion in which he stated that the "judicial question of what is best for welfare of child never arises unless the parents are dead or declared unfit" and that "the law establishes a preference for the natural parent and that preference must prevail unless it is established that the natural parent is unfit." Id. at 282.
  • In re Guardianship of S.H., __ S.W.3d __ (Ark. 2012), the Court held that a "natural parent who has not been deemed unfit is entitled to the presumption that he or she is acting in the child's best interest, even after consenting to a guardianship."
  • Coffee v. Zolliecoffer, 216 S.W.3d 636 (Ark. Ct. App. 2005): "The law prefers a parent over a grandparent or other third person, unless the parent is proved to be incompetent or unfit." Id. at 641. However, "the 'polestar' and paramount consideration is at all times the best interest of the child, which can overcome the parental preference when a child is left in the care of a non-parent for a substantial period of time," id. at 642, even when the parent is perfectly fit.
  • In Bethany v. Jones, 378 S.W. 3d 731 (Ark. 2011), the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed a judgment awarding visitation to a former same-sex partner over the objections of the mother. Even though there had been no showing of parental unfitness, the Court noted that the mother's former partner was a "parent figure" to her daughter.