Wendell Rogers v. Arkansas Department of Correction

Summary

The court held that Rogers's parole eligibility for his fifteen-year firearm enhancement must be determined under the statutes in effect when he committed aggravated robbery in 2005. The 2007 amendment imposing a seventy-percent parole restriction expressly applied only to offenses committed on or after July 2, 2007, and could not be applied retroactively to Rogers. The court therefore reversed the circuit court and remanded with instructions to issue mandamus requiring the Department of Correction to calculate parole eligibility for the enhancement. Justice Womack concurred, without a separate opinion explaining a different rationale.