Rule 6.Time

Reporter’s Notes to Rule 6: 1. This Rule is practically identical to FRCP 6. Section (a) has been changed somewhat by omitting a recitation of specific legal holidays within the definition of legal holiday. It is redundant to list specifically the holidays and then add to the list “any other day appointed as a holiday by the President of [or] the Congress” or by the State.

2. This Rule does not substantially change previous Arkansas practice. As before, trial judges are given broad discretion in most instances to extend the various periods of time within which certain actions must be taken. The exceptions are noted in Section (b).

Addition to Reporter’s Note, 1986 Amendment: Rule 6(a) is amended, consistently with the federal rule, to extend the exclusion of intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays to the computation of time periods less than 11 days. Under the former version of the rule, parties bringing motions under rules with 10-day periods could have as few as five working days to prepare their motions.

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 1988 Amendment: Rule 6(d) is amended to make plain that a defendant does not have an extra three days to file an answer or preanswer motion under Rule 12 when the summons and complaint are served by mail pursuant to Rule 4. Allowing a defendant an additional three days to answer in the event of service by mail would be a "bonus" not available to a defendant served by another method. Under Rule 12(a), a defendant must answer or file a preanswer motion within a given number of days “after the service of summons and complaint upon him.” The specified time period thus begins to run when the defendant receives the summons and complaint, irrespective of the manner in which it is served. Rule 6(d) continues to apply with respect to pleadings and papers other than the complaint, however, for service of these materials by mail is presumptively complete upon mailing, Rule 5(b), Ark. R. Civ. P. Thus, the three-day extension provided by Rule 6(d) is necessary to compensate for the "lag time" between the mailing of these papers and their delivery.

Addition to Reporter’s Note, 1990 Amendment: Rule 6(b) is amended to correspond to the changes made in Rule 55 regarding default judgments. Under revised subdivision (b)(2), the court may, upon motion, extend the time for filing an answer (or for other action) after the relevant period has expired if the failure was the result of "mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, or other just cause." This standard, which mirrors that employed in Rule 55(c)(1) with respect to the setting aside of a default judgment, is intended to liberalize Arkansas practice. Under former Rule 6(b), an extension of time was permissible only where the failure to act was the result of "excusable neglect, unavoidable casualty or other just cause."

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2000 Amendment: The time period in the third sentence of subdivision (a) has been changed from eleven days to fourteen days, the intent being to eliminate confusion in the computation of response time when a motion has been served by mail under subdivision (d).

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2002 Amendment: Rule 6(c) has been amended to clarify the timing of motions, responses, and replies. A related change with respect to motion practice has been made in Rule 7(b), which governs the form and content of motions, responses, and replies. Cross-references to Rules 6(c) and 7(b) have been added to Rule 12(i) and Rule 78(b).

Under the prior version of subdivision (c), a written motion and notice of hearing had to be served no later than ten days prior to the date set for hearing. At the same time, Rule 78(b) provided a ten- day period for a response and a five-day period for reply. As a result, there might be no time for a reply. To address this problem, the ten-day period in subdivision (c) has been expanded to twenty days. Also, the provisions governing the timing of responses and replies have been shifted from Rule 78(b) to subdivision (c). As was previously the case, the court may modify the time periods by order. These periods are inapplicable when a different time frame is established by another rule, e.g., Rule 56(c) (motions for summary judgment).

The provision in the former version of subdivision (c) as to supporting affidavits now appears in Rule 7(b)(2).

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2003 Amendment: Subdivision (a) has been amended to address the situation in which the clerk’s office is closed for reasons other than weekends and legal holidays. The amendment incorporates the Supreme Court’s holding in Honeycutt v. Fanning, 349 Ark. 324, 78 S.W.3d 96 (2002), and makes Rule 6(a) consistent with, though not identical to, its federal counterpart.

Subdivision (d) of the rule has been rewritten to include commercial delivery companies. The amended subdivision applies when service of papers, other than the summons and complaint, is by mail or by commercial delivery company.

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2004 Amendment: Subdivision (b) of the rule has been amended by adding Ark. R. Civ. P. 4(i) to the list of exceptions, thereby codifying the holding in Smith v. Sidney Moncrief Pontiac, No. 02 449 (June 19, 2003).

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2010 Amendment: Subdivision (d) has been amended to add the three-day additional response time allowed for service by mail or commercial delivery company to the time permitted for response to service by electronic transmission, including by e-mail, under Rule 5(b)(2).

Reporter’s Note, 2026 Amendment: The 2026 amendment to Rule 6(d) clarifies that three business days are added to the time for a response when service is through the court’s electronic filing system. The portion of Administrative Order No. 21 making service of a document effective upon transmission of the electronic filing notice by the clerk created an ambiguity in the opinion of some practitioners regarding the applicability of the three extra business days for response. This amendment clarifies three business days are to be added.