A person generally commits the criminal offense of kidnapping by using force or other means of instilling fear to steal, take, hold, detain, abduct, or arrest a person and take them to another location. A person of any age may be a victim of kidnapping.

And a person generally commits the criminal offense of aggravated kidnapping if the person (1) uses force, fear, or fraud upon a victim who is a child under 14 years of age; (2) accompanies the kidnapping with a demand for ransom; (3) causes the victim to suffer serious bodily injury or death; (4) kidnaps a person during a carjacking; (5) uses the victim as a shield or hostage; or (6) exhibits or uses a deadly weapon during the course of the kidnapping.

Kidnapping laws vary from state to state, including definitions and affirmative defenses, such as whether the person taken is related to the kidnapper. Some states have child abduction laws that apply to the abduction of children by parents or relatives when the child is not moved a significant distance (out of county or state). Kidnapping laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Arkansas, kidnapping is defined under Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-11-102. A person commits the offense of kidnapping if they unlawfully restrain another person with the purpose of holding them for ransom or reward, using them as a shield or hostage, facilitating the commission of any felony or flight thereafter, inflicting physical injury upon them, or interfering with the performance of any governmental or political function. The restraint must be accompanied by moving the victim from one place to another or confining the victim for a substantial period in a place of isolation. Aggravated kidnapping, which is a more serious offense, occurs under circumstances such as when the victim is under 14 years of age, the kidnapper is armed with a deadly weapon, the victim suffers bodily injury, or the kidnapping occurs during a carjacking. Arkansas law also recognizes affirmative defenses to kidnapping, such as the claim that the defendant is a relative of the person restrained and their sole purpose was to assume lawful control of that person. Child abduction by parents or relatives is addressed separately under the state's domestic relations statutes, which deal with custodial interference and parental kidnapping, especially when the child is not moved a significant distance. Penalties for kidnapping offenses are severe and can include lengthy prison sentences.