An attorney entered a plea by order Monday in the Joseph and Kendra Duggar case, changing their not-guilty pleas and putting the Arkansas child endangerment and false imprisonment matter on a 12-month diversion. The case remains open, even as the diversion period begins.
The filing matters because it changes the defendants’ legal position without ending the case. A plea by order is a written filing and administrative order that lets a defendant withdraw a prior not-guilty plea and submit a guilty or no-contest plea without appearing before a judge.
Elm Springs District Court
Joseph Duggar and Kendra Duggar had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the Monday filing was entered on their behalf. The move applies to both defendants in the same Arkansas matter and gives the case a 12-month diversion window rather than an immediate resolution.
Kendra Duggar appeared in 79 episodes of Counting On from 2015 to 2021. Kendra Caldwell married Joseph Duggar in 2017, placing her name in public view long before the court filing changed the status of this case.
Tontitown arrests in March
Joseph Garrett Duggar was 31 when Tontitown police arrested him in March, and Kendra Duggar was 27 when she was arrested later in March. Kendra Duggar faced misdemeanor state charges including four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
Joseph Duggar faces the same state charges as Kendra Duggar. He also faces separate charges of lewd and lascivious behavior involving molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.
Bay County court records
Joseph Duggar was released from the Bay County jail on $600,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with the accuser of any kind and no unsupervised contact with any minor. Bay County court records also show a report from a 14-year-old girl about incidents involving Duggar during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she was 9 years old.
The Arkansas case stays open during the diversion period, so the plea change does not end the matter. The remaining issue is the one that now controls the case: what conditions Joseph Duggar and Kendra Duggar must follow during the 12-month diversion.
