Arkansas Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Arkansas, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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If someone in Arkansas has a felony conviction (or one that has been expunged), can they still run for public office or become a certified police officer?
Felony convictions blocked Arkansas public office under Article 5, section 9, but a valid expungement under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act ordinarily restored eligibility. Law enforceme…
In Arkansas, which boards (county fair, library, RDA, soil conservation, etc.) count as 'civil offices' that legislators and certain elected county officials cannot also serve on?
It depends on the board. The AG concluded that county fair boards, county soil conservation boards, local museum boards/commissions, county library boards, and Rural Development Authority commissioner…
Can DF&A release an Arkansas Department of Emergency Management employee's name with the amount of her performance-review pay raise under the FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that DF&A's decision to release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance-review system was consistent with the Arkansas FO…
Can DF&A release a state employee's name with the amount of her performance-review pay raise under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that DF&A's decision to release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance-review system was consistent with the Arkansas FO…
Can DF&A release a state DHS physician's name with the amount of her performance-review pay raise under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that DF&A's decision to release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance-review system was consistent with the Arkansas FO…
Can DF&A release a state employee's name with the amount of her performance-review pay raise under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that DF&A's decision to release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance-review system was consistent with the Arkansas FO…
Can DF&A release a state Arkansas Health Center supervisor's name with the amount of his performance-review pay raise under the FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that DF&A's decision to release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance review system was consistent with the Arkansas FO…
Can Arkansas DF&A release the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who got raises under the new performance review system in response to a FOIA request?
Yes. The AG concluded that the names and pay raise amounts of state employees who received raises under the new performance review system were personnel records subject to release under the Arkansas F…
Does Arkansas State Police Retirement System Tier II require thirty years of actual participation to enter the DROP, or can reciprocal service from another state retirement system count?
Yes. The AG concluded that Ark. Code Ann. section 24-6-502 required thirty years of actual participation in the ASPRS Tier II Benefit Plan to enter the Tier II Deferred Retirement Option Plan. Recipro…
Do members of Arkansas rural water boards, sewer-facility boards, airport commissions, the Fire Protection Service Board, county hospital boards, county or district boards of health, and levee boards hold a 'civil office' that would block sitting county elected officials or legislators from serving?
Yes for almost every board listed. The AG concluded that members of rural water boards, public sewer-facility boards, airport commissions, the Arkansas Fire Protection Service Board, county hospital b…
In Arkansas, are county election commissioners, parole board members, university trustees, school board members, sheriffs and deputies, city police officers, or county parks commissioners 'civil officers' that legislators or covered county officials cannot also hold?
Yes for all eight categories. The AG concluded that county election commissioners, members of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, Southern Arkansas University trustees, local school board members,…
Can an Arkansas county judge or county clerk also serve on the Workforce Development Board, an Intergovernmental Cooperation Council, or the Electronic Recording Commission without violating the dual-office rule in Amendment 95?
Mixed. The AG concluded that the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council and the Electronic Recording Commission imposed only additional duties on existing county offices, not separate civil offices. Se…
Can a Little Rock police lieutenant block a FOIA request for his name, residence, race, education, rank, and pay history by claiming it is harassment and should go through litigation discovery instead?
The data is public. The AG concluded that the requested information about Little Rock Police Department lieutenants (name, residence, race, education, rank, pay, promotions, demotions, rehire status) …
Can the City of Gentry release a former police officer's application and training records under FOIA while withholding his performance evaluations, medical records, and crime-information-center reports?
Likely consistent with the FOIA. The AG concluded the City of Gentry's plan to release a former police officer's application, interview notes, training certificates, fingerprint verification, and simi…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the ballot title for a 2018 initiated constitutional amendment that would replace the Board of Apportionment with a Citizens' Redistricting Commission?
Certified. The AG approved the popular name and ballot title for 'The Arkansas Citizens' Redistricting Amendment' as submitted, but added a cautionary note that the proposal's length and complexity co…
Does the Arkansas State Claims Commission have jurisdiction over a claim against APERS about who controls retirement-system investments?
The AG declined to opine. Decisions of the Arkansas State Claims Commission may be appealed only to the General Assembly under Ark. Code Ann. section 19-10-211(a). The matter at issue (a jurisdictiona…
If an Arkansas municipality enters into a court-approved consent order in a lawsuit, must it abide by all terms?
The AG declined to answer. Senator Alan Clark asked whether a municipality that signed a court-approved consent order had to abide by all of its terms. The AG concluded the question depended on the un…
Can an Independence County, Arkansas fire department use voter-approved sales tax revenues to buy land for a new station and to sell extra acreage to fund an ISO-rating improvement?
The AG declined to give a yes-or-no answer because the question depended on reading the specific ballot title and the levying ordinance, which is a fact-bound local determination outside the AG's role…
Can a city employee block the release of his personnel file and city ID photograph to a FOIA requester who he believes is harassing him?
No, the harassment claim does not block disclosure. The AG could not opine on the specific records because the custodian had not decided and she had not reviewed them, but she emphasized two points: p…
Can the City of Little Rock release some records and withhold others in response to a city employee's FOIA request for the disposition of harassment complaints involving IT personnel and her own personnel file?
Mostly consistent with the FOIA, with one important correction. The City of Little Rock's HR department was correct that records the requesting employee already had access to as her personnel records …
Should an Arkansas school district release a sexual harassment complainant's personnel records under the FOIA, and must the complainant's name be redacted?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Fayetteville Public School District properly classified a sexual harassment complaint as the complainant's personnel record subject to FOIA disclosure. But the complaina…
Can a school district release records from a sexual-harassment investigation that ended a superintendent's employment under the Arkansas FOIA, and what must be redacted?
Mostly consistent with the FOIA. The AG concluded that Fayetteville Public Schools District's decision to release nearly 200 pages of records relating to the sexual-harassment investigation that ended…
When did Arkansas Acts from the 2018 second extraordinary session take effect if they had no emergency clause and no specified effective date?
AG Rutledge concluded that acts passed during the Second Extraordinary Session of the 91st Arkansas General Assembly (adjourning sine die March 15, 2018) that did not contain an emergency clause or sp…
When did Arkansas Acts from the 2018 fiscal session take effect if they had no emergency clause and no specified effective date?
AG Rutledge concluded that acts passed during the 2018 fiscal session of the 91st Arkansas General Assembly that did not contain an emergency clause or specified effective date became effective on Tue…
Can an Arkansas city council allow its committee members to attend committee meetings by phone if the public can hear them through a speakerphone?
AG Rutledge concluded that an Arkansas city's procedural rule letting city council members participate in committee meetings by conference call was lawful, so long as a speakerphone or similar setup l…
Can an Arkansas quorum court reduce a county treasurer's salary mid-term, and does extra pay for added duties also count as protected 'salary'?
AG Rutledge concluded that the salary of an elected Arkansas county officer cannot be reduced during the officer's current term. Any decrease takes effect only after the next general election that fil…
Are Arkansas school teachers, small-district superintendents, and similar non-sovereign positions considered 'civil offices' that block the holder from running for or holding county office?
AG Rutledge predicted that teachers, superintendents of small school districts, the Arkansas Burial Association Board auditor, Baxter Regional Medical Center advisory board members, and constitutional…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the Arkansas Cannabis Amendment ballot title submitted by John Wesley Hall in 2018?
AG Rutledge rejected John Wesley Hall's 2018 popular name and ballot title for the proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment, citing three threshold defects: inadequate disclosure of continued federal ille…
What does the Arkansas AG's approval of an interlocal cooperation agreement for a regional crisis stabilization unit involve?
AG Rutledge approved an interlocal cooperation agreement among Sebastian, Crawford, Franklin, Logan, Scott, and Polk Counties and their incorporated municipalities for the joint funding and operation …
Can a county election commissioner in Arkansas urge someone to run for office, and do they have to recuse from running the election once that person becomes a candidate?
AG Rutledge concluded that an Arkansas county election commissioner may recruit or encourage someone to run for office, so long as that activity happens before the person is listed on the ballot or qu…
Is it a crime in Arkansas to carry a concealed handgun in public without a concealed-carry license?
AG Rutledge concluded that no Arkansas statute expressly imposed a penalty for merely carrying a concealed handgun without a concealed-carry license. But the AG warned that under existing Arkansas Sup…
Can a child qualify for an Arkansas Succeed Scholarship voucher with a document that mirrors an IEP but is not an actual IEP under the IDEA?
AG Rutledge concluded that only an actual 'individualized education program' as defined by federal IDEA satisfies the Succeed Scholarship eligibility requirement. A document that copies IEP-style cont…
Why did the Arkansas AG re-certify the 2018 Oaklawn/Southland casino-gaming amendment one day after the original certification?
AG Rutledge recertified the 2018 Oaklawn/Southland casino-gaming amendment one day after first certifying it (in Op. 2018-068). The recertification corrected a typographical error ('Raing' should have…
Why did the Arkansas AG certify the 2018 four-LLC casino-gaming amendment proposed by Randall Bynum?
AG Rutledge certified the popular name and ballot title for a competing 2018 casino-gaming amendment that would have authorized four casinos, one each in Benton, Boone, Miller, and Pulaski counties, o…
Why did the Arkansas AG certify the 2018 casino-gaming amendment proposed by Alex Gray for Crittenden, Garland, Pope, and Jefferson counties?
AG Rutledge certified the popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment requiring the Arkansas Racing Commission to issue four casino licenses: one to Southland in Crittenden C…
Why did the Arkansas AG certify David Couch's 2018 Arkansas Citizens' Redistricting Commission Amendment ballot title?
AG Rutledge certified the popular name and ballot title for David Couch's proposed 'Arkansas Citizens' Redistricting Commission Amendment.' The amendment would have repealed the existing Board of Appo…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Robert Reed's 2018 'Arkansas Hemp and Cannabis Amendment' ballot title?
AG Rutledge rejected Robert Reed's proposed Hemp and Cannabis Amendment ballot title because it failed to adequately explain how the proposed amendment would change current law (specifically the exist…
Why did the Arkansas AG certify the 2018 minimum-wage ballot title submitted by David Couch?
AG Rutledge certified, after the Arkansas Supreme Court's intervening decision in *Couch v. Rutledge*, the popular name and ballot title for an initiated act raising the Arkansas state minimum wage fr…
Can a Pine Bluff School District employee block disclosure of her personnel records by pointing to a pending internal review or a school district policy?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Pine Bluff School District properly classified the employee's records as personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure. The employee's stated objections (the requester's …
When the Arkansas Real Estate Commission gets a FOIA request for an employee's personnel file, must the home address, personnel number, and APERS retirement ID be redacted?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Arkansas Real Estate Commission properly classified the employee's records as personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure, but ordered additional redactions: home addre…
When the Arkansas Real Estate Commission gets a FOIA request for an employee's personnel file, what specifically must be redacted before disclosure?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Arkansas Real Estate Commission properly classified the employee's records as personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure, but ordered additional redactions: personnel …
If the only privacy issue left in an Arkansas state employee's personnel file is one Personnel Number on an Employee Master Data Form, does the agency still have to redact it before release?
Yes. Even with everything else properly redacted, a single internal Personnel Number must still come out, because Arkansas FOIA categorically exempts personal identification numbers used for computer …
Does an Arkansas state agency director have the same FOIA privacy protections in his personnel file as a rank-and-file employee?
Yes. The AG required AREC's executive director to have his Personnel Number, SSN, marital status, home address, federal tax withholding, deductions, and net pay all redacted from his personnel file be…
Can a public employee's net pay be released under the Arkansas FOIA, or does it have to be redacted along with tax withholding and deductions?
It must be redacted. The AG concluded that gross salary is releasable but tax withholding, payroll deductions, and net pay all have to come out before a state employee's personnel file goes to a FOIA …
When an Arkansas state employee's personnel file is released under FOIA, do tax withholding details and performance evaluation columns have to be removed?
Yes. The AG concluded that the AREC's release was generally proper, but federal tax withholding information, an employee performance evaluation column on a bonus document, the employee's Personnel Num…
Can an Arkansas state agency release a current employee's personnel file under FOIA, and what has to be redacted before it goes out?
Yes. Most personnel records must be released, but the agency must redact items like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, tax and banking details, and any internal Personnel/PIN num…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 minimum wage increase ballot title even though the underlying policy was simple?
The AG rejected the title because the sponsor copy-pasted the entire statutory definitions of 'employer' and 'employee' into the ballot, producing a 967-word title packed with technical terms that vot…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Alex Gray's 2018 ballot title for a four-county casino constitutional amendment?
The AG found the proposal misleading because it called itself an authorization of four casinos, but actually awarded two licenses automatically to Southland and Oaklawn with no obligation to operate, …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 ballot title for the proposed Hemp and Cannabis constitutional amendment?
The AG rejected the title because the proposal said it would 'regulate' cannabis without explaining how that interacted with Arkansas's existing Medical Marijuana Amendment (Amendment 98), so voters c…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the 2018 ballot title for a constitutional amendment authorizing four casinos in Benton, Boone, Miller, and Pulaski Counties?
No. AG Leslie Rutledge rejected the popular name and ballot title in May 2018, finding the proposal had fundamental defects in how it described the locations, the franchise mechanism, and the changes …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 ballot title for the Citizens' Redistricting Commission constitutional amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected the proposal because key terms (such as a commissioner's required 'commitment' to honesty and impartiality, and what counts as 'substantial neglect of duty') were too vague and va…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 minimum wage proposal that would have let cities and counties set higher local minimum wages?
AG Rutledge rejected the proposal both because the title omitted significant aspects of the underlying measure and because the local-option provision itself was ambiguous about how cities and counties…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 cannabis constitutional amendment that would have repealed and replaced Amendment 98?
AG Rutledge rejected the proposal because the ballot title did not adequately summarize the proposal's substance, including how it would repeal the existing Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment 98 and…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 Arkansas True Grass recreational marijuana ballot title?
The AG rejected it for fundamental ambiguities in the proposal text. The AG also reminded the Arkansas True Grass committee that drafting and accurately summarizing the measure are the sponsor's respo…
Are public employees' names, job positions, and pay rates releasable under the Arkansas FOIA, even over the employees' objections?
Yes. AG Rutledge confirmed that names, positions, and salary information for public utility employees are personnel records that must be released under the Arkansas FOIA, and that employees' objection…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject David Couch's first April 2018 minimum wage ballot title?
AG Rutledge rejected the April 26, 2018 first draft for ambiguities in how it would affect existing Arkansas wage law. The reviewer required Couch to clarify how the proposal interacted with current s…
What happens when an Arkansas ballot-title sponsor resubmits virtually the same proposal the AG already rejected?
The AG rejects it again. Robert Reed's 2018 Hemp and Cannabis Amendment was nearly identical to a 2016 proposal the AG had already flagged with serious ambiguities (Op. 2016-110). The AG will not cons…
Can a city's Advertising and Promotion Commission use A&P tax money to build a youth-programming auditorium next to its existing convention center?
Yes, likely. AG Rutledge concluded the A&P Commission may spend its funds either as a convention center 'extension' (if annexed) or as a 'public recreation facility' under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-75-606, …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the first April 2018 draft of the Citizens' Redistricting Commission constitutional amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected the first draft for ambiguities, particularly around the undefined term 'immediate family member' (used as an eligibility disqualifier) and the undefined term 'Arkansas public off…
When does the Arkansas FOIA require a city to release disciplinary records of a senior public employee, even over the employee's objection?
When the disciplinary record involves repeated infractions by a high-ranking employee, including matters touching public funds, the AG considers the 'compelling public interest' standard met and the c…
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Attorney general opinions in Arkansas are written by the Arkansas Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.