Are electronic signatures legal in Arkansas?

How Arkansas adopted UETA

Arkansas passed the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act as Act 905 of 2001 (Senate Bill 159), now Title 25, Chapter 32 of the Arkansas Code. The legislature attached an emergency clause, so it took effect when the governor approved it on March 19, 2001. The stated reason: the federal ESIGN Act preempted Arkansas law, and adopting UETA would largely displace that preemption.

The act says so directly. It declares itself an enactment of UETA as the uniform law commissioners approved it in 1999, so it modifies, limits or supersedes ESIGN's general rule to the extent federal law allows (Ark. Code § 25-32-103(e); 15 U.S.C. § 7002). Our plain-English guide explains how the two laws fit together.

The core rules

• A record, signature or contract can't be denied legal effect just because it's electronic.
• An electronic record satisfies a law that requires a writing, and an electronic signature satisfies a law that requires a signature.
• The act applies only when each party has agreed to deal electronically, judged from context and conduct, and anyone can refuse the next transaction (§ 25-32-105).
• A record the sender stops the recipient from printing or saving isn't enforceable against the recipient.

Blockchain signatures and smart contracts

In 2019, Act 1061 added § 25-32-122 to the chapter. A signature secured through blockchain technology counts as an electronic signature, and a record or contract secured that way counts as an electronic record. A smart contract is treated as a commercial contract, and a contract with a smart contract term can't be denied legal effect for that reason.

What's excluded in Arkansas

• Laws on creating and signing wills, codicils and testamentary trusts (§ 25-32-103(b)(1)).
• Most of the Uniform Commercial Code. Sales (Chapter 2), leases of goods (Chapter 2A) and two general UCC sections stay covered (§ 25-32-103(b)(2)).

That's the short uniform list. Arkansas's act doesn't add ESIGN's notice exceptions, but those still limit what ESIGN itself covers (15 U.S.C. § 7003), so send shutoff, foreclosure and eviction notices the way the governing law requires.

Online notaries

Act 1047 of 2021 lets an electronic notary perform online notarial acts by communication technology through a solution provider (Ark. Code § 21-14-309). The notary must be physically in Arkansas, verify the signer's identity and make an audio-visual recording. Online notaries register with the Secretary of State. See remote online notarization. SignMaster doesn't notarize documents.

Practical notes for Arkansas businesses

• Get agreement on record. A line in your contract saying both sides agree to sign electronically is evidence of the agreement § 25-32-105 asks for.
• Give every signer a copy they can download, print and keep.
• Keep the final version intact and accessible, so it can stand in for the original if a law requires one.

A record you stop the recipient from saving can't be enforced against them, so make keeping a copy easy. Every SignMaster signer can download the completed PDF. Before anyone signs, they agree to sign electronically, and that consent is stored with the disclosure version they saw. The PDF's certificate of completion shows each event and when it happened.