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 a county tax collector loses my check, am I still on the hook for the property taxes?
The AG concluded that yes, the taxpayer remained liable because Arkansas law treats a check as only conditional payment until it is actually paid in cash, but the county had to treat these specific ta…
Can an Arkansas city give $25 gift cards to volunteer EMS members as a thank-you?
The AG concluded that, on the limited facts available, the $25 Christmas gift cards to Fairfield Bay's volunteer EMS team looked like an unconstitutional donation to private individuals under Article …
How does the Arkansas Attorney General certify a ballot title for a citizen-initiated casino amendment?
AG Leslie Rutledge certified the popular name as submitted and substituted a revised ballot title to fix minor grammatical and typographical errors. The opinion summarizes the legal standards she appl…
Are oil and gas Division Orders that companies share with county assessors public records under Arkansas FOIA?
The AG concluded that a court would very likely treat Division Orders given to Arkansas county assessors as exempt from FOIA disclosure under the competitive-advantage exemption, because releasing the…
Can an Arkansas school district donate an unused school building to a nonprofit community center?
The AG concluded that Greenland School District could donate the former Winslow school property to a local nonprofit for community and after-school programs without violating the Arkansas constitution…
Is a nonprofit hospital that leases a county facility subject to the Arkansas FOIA?
The AG concluded that on the facts presented, the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center's nonprofit operator was not wholly subject to the FOIA because there was no direct public funding of its gener…
Does the county treasurer take a 2% commission on prisoner commissary and telephone profits before they reach the sheriff's communications fund?
The AG concluded that yes, Ark. Code Ann. § 21-6-302 unambiguously requires county treasurers to collect a 2% commission on all funds coming into their hands as treasurers (with limited statutory exce…
Can a regional planning and development district charge a percentage administrative fee on grants it disburses?
The AG concluded that no, Arkansas's economic planning and development districts have no express or necessarily implied statutory power to charge grantees an administrative fee, and they cannot alloca…
Can a county buy land from a company partly owned by a county official?
The AG concluded that no, the Arkansas county ethics code at Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-1202 forbids county officials from being directly or indirectly interested in county transactions, and the waiver pr…
When a city releases a former employee's personnel file under FOIA, what gets redacted and what about disciplinary letters?
The AG concluded that the City of Little Rock's redacted release was consistent with the FOIA. Most documents were properly personnel records subject to disclosure, but a March 2015 disciplinary lette…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject a casino ballot title under § 7-9-107?
The AG rejected the May 12, 2016 submission of a three-county casino constitutional amendment because the underlying text contained ambiguities and the ballot title failed to completely summarize the …
Why did the Arkansas AG substitute a popular name but reject the ballot title for a lobbyist-gifts and campaign-finance amendment?
The AG substituted a corrected popular name (and certified that) for the proposed constitutional amendment that aimed to prohibit lobbyist gifts to certain officials, ban contributions from specified …
When a city's records custodian responds to a media FOIA request about a former employee, how does the AG check the release decision?
The AG concluded that the City of Camden custodian's release decision was consistent with the FOIA for some documents but inconsistent for others. The opinion's bigger lesson is procedural: a custodia…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject both the popular name and the ballot title for a lobbyist-gifts and campaign-finance amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected the popular name as misleading in several respects and rejected the ballot title for failure to sufficiently inform voters about the proposed changes to current campaign-finance a…
Did the Arkansas AG certify a 2016 ballot title legalizing recreational and medical marijuana plus industrial hemp?
AG Rutledge certified the popular name as submitted and substituted a corrected ballot title for sponsor Mary L. Berry's 2016 initiated constitutional amendment that would have regulated industrial he…
Can an Arkansas state employee request that their personal information be excluded from the redacted job application that the custodian plans to release under FOIA?
The standard redactions already handle most personal information. The AG concluded that a public employee's job application is a 'public record' under A.C.A. § 25-19-103(5)(A), that the personnel-reco…
Is an Arkansas state employee's job application a public record that must be released as redacted under the FOIA when the employee asks for review?
Yes. The AG concluded that a public employee's job application is a 'public record' under A.C.A. § 25-19-103(5)(A) and that the applicable exception is the 'personnel records' exception under § 25-19-…
Can an Arkansas state employee block a FOIA request for their job application and resume, including the names and addresses of their previous employers?
No. The AG concluded that a public employee's job application and accompanying resume are 'personnel records' under the FOIA, and a release that has been properly redacted does not amount to a 'clearl…
Can a city release a redacted record of disciplinary-interview conversations about a city supervisor who received a three-day suspension, over the supervisor's objection that witnesses will be identified?
Yes. The AG concluded that the interview-conversation record was an employee-evaluation record under *Thomas v. Hall*'s three-part test. With the supervisor suspended, the proceeding final, and the re…
Did the Arkansas Attorney General certify the 2016 proposed constitutional amendment limiting medical-malpractice attorney contingency fees and non-economic damages?
Yes, with one modification. The AG concluded that the ballot title fairly summarized the proposal but that the submitted popular name ('The Lawsuit Reform Amendment of 2016: An Amendment to Limit Atto…
What are the powers and limits of an Arkansas Suburban Improvement District: can property owners prepay their assessment, is the district subject to FOIA, can it waive assessments or rezone lots, and who collects delinquent payments?
The AG concluded that suburban improvement districts are 'agents of the state' subject to the Arkansas FOIA, including for documents like voter lists kept for district elections. SIDs cannot waive an …
Can an Arkansas employment background-check company use a FOIA request to get a person's district court records, or can the clerk refuse under Supreme Court Administrative Order 19?
The AG concluded that Administrative Order 19 controls these requests because the order's definitions cover court records of specific individuals. Whether the clerk can refuse turns on Section VI of t…
If an Arkansas quorum court creates an ambulance service district under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-282-102(e) but the ordinance does not specify how the district will be funded, can voters approve the ordinance anyway?
No. The AG concluded that § 14-282-102(e)(1)(A) requires the ordinance to set forth the method of taxation, either assessment of residents or millage on property in the district. Without that statutor…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2016 proposed constitutional amendment on lobbyist gifts, political action committees, independent expenditures, and campaign contribution limits?
The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title on two grounds. First, the title failed to summarize several substantive sections, especially the new article 19, section 32 defining 'covered transfe…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2016 proposed 'Arkansas Cannabis Restoration Amendment' ballot title?
The AG rejected the proposed ballot title because the text of the underlying amendment contained too many ambiguities for a fair summary to be drafted. Specific defects included: stating that certain …
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject Mary L. Berry's revised April 2016 Arkansas Cannabis Amendment?
The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title because the revised proposal kept some old ambiguities and introduced new ones. Section 2's 'shall be lawful' language for cannabis activities was sti…
Did the Arkansas Attorney General certify the 2016 proposed constitutional amendment capping non-economic and punitive damages in medical malpractice cases?
Yes, with one substitution. The AG concluded that the proposed ballot title was an adequate summary but that the submitted popular name was partisan and would be challenged on that basis. The AG subst…
When does the Arkansas 25 mph school zone speed limit apply? Does it apply during ball games or other school events outside instructional time?
The 25 mph school zone speed limit under Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-212(a) applies only when all three conditions are simultaneously met: during school hours, when children are present, and when the child…
Can a Maumelle city alderman get FOIA copies of police and fire department employee timesheets, including hours worked and leave taken, for a one-week period?
Yes. The AG concluded that the custodian's decision to release the requested timesheets was consistent with the FOIA. Attendance and leave records are 'personnel records' under § 25-19-105(b)(12), and…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject Don Lane's revised March 2016 Cannabis Restoration Amendment?
The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title because the proposal's text retained or created multiple ambiguities the AG could not draft around. Section 2's 'shall be lawful' language conflicted …
Can a city department in Arkansas legally post Bible verses on its official Facebook page, and how does the U.S. Supreme Court's Establishment Clause case law apply?
The AG concluded that all four Jonesboro 911 Dispatch Facebook posts at issue would survive under the coercion test, which the AG argued is the proper test under the Establishment Clause's original me…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject David Couch's 2016 proposed 'On Premise Local Option Election Alcohol Act'?
The AG rejected the ballot title because the proposal still had ambiguities the AG could not draft around. The proposed act would let the ABC Director issue permits for festivals, hotels, restaurants,…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2016 'Arkansas Cannabis Amendment' submitted by Mary L. Berry?
The AG rejected the ballot title because the proposal's text contained ambiguities the AG could not draft around. Section 3's expansive 'marijuana paraphernalia' definition (which included anything us…
Can a retired Arkansas public-school employee block release of her old job application under FOIA, especially when the requester offers no reason?
No. The AG concluded that the FOIA's personnel-records framework applies to former employees just as it applies to current employees, citing Op. Att'y Gen. 2006-182. A public employee's job applicatio…
Can a special school millage election be held in Arkansas on the same day as the regularly scheduled preferential primary election, and how should the ballot be structured?
Yes, provided the three conditions of § 6-14-102(b) are met (compliance with annual-school-election requirements other than date, the election precedes the annual school election, and the Commissioner…
Can Arkansas voters use an initiated act to bar state colleges from requiring students to live in dorms or buy meal plans?
Not on this proposal. The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title because the draft lacked a constitutional enacting clause, used 'cafeteria plan' ambiguously, and did not define key terms like …
Can a city release a former employee's personnel records, including discipline letters, in response to an Arkansas FOIA request?
Yes, with some adjustments. The AG approved most of the City of Little Rock's redactions of Carla Daniels' file but said race and gender should not be redacted, and identified additional content in tw…
Under the Arkansas FOIA, what rules govern releasing a public employee's personnel file, discipline records, and work emails?
The AG laid out the framework but did not review specific documents. Personnel records get the Young v. Rice privacy balancing test. Employee evaluations stay confidential unless the employee was susp…
Can Arkansas voters approve a dry-county local option to permit on-premise alcohol sales at hotels, restaurants, microbreweries, and festivals?
Not on this proposal. The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title for the second time because the underlying draft was internally inconsistent on rulemaking authority, used an undefined 'wet' te…
Can a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment legalize recreational marijuana, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp in a single ballot measure?
Not on this draft. The AG rejected the Arkansas Cannabis Amendment because its findings did not match its operative provisions, its licensing scheme was framed as optional, and key terms like 'state m…
When a public hospital is no longer run by a benevolent association, what happens to surplus property-tax proceeds collected for its support?
The AG could not answer definitively because the question turns on facts about when the tax was collected and who was operating the hospital then. The hospital tax follows the operation: a benevolent …
Can a city release a letter in a former police officer's personnel file in response to an Arkansas FOIA request despite his privacy objection?
Yes. The AG agreed with the City of Cave Springs that the disputed letter was a personnel record and that disclosing it would not be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, even though the…
Can Arkansas voters approve a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana through a state-licensed dispensary system?
Yes. The AG certified the popular name 'The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016' as submitted and substituted her own polished ballot title. The version voters considered in November 2016 was…
Can the Arkansas Department of Information Systems force school districts to break vendor contracts, and will the AG opine on whether those contracts are valid?
No on both. The AG cannot interpret specific school-district contracts because her statutory advisory role is limited to constitutional and statutory questions. And the federal FCC, not DIS, runs the …
Can the Arkansas Department of Correction pay an out-of-state facility for housing a backup inmate using the County Jail Reimbursement Fund?
No. The County Jail Reimbursement Fund can only pay Arkansas counties for inmates the sheriff certifies were physically housed in that county's jail. There is no statutory mechanism for ADC to pay an …
Can Arkansas voters approve a local-option election in dry counties allowing on-premise alcohol sales at hotels, restaurants, microbreweries, and festivals?
Not on this draft. The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title for a dry-county on-premise alcohol initiated act, finding the underlying proposal had multiple ambiguities that no substituted bal…
Does an Arkansas multi-county planning and development district get state tort immunity when it temporarily takes title to property for an EPA cleanup grant?
Likely yes for state-law tort claims. The AG concluded the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District would likely qualify as a 'political subdivision' under Ark. Code Ann. 21-9-301, with th…
Can State Capitol Police arrest someone for carrying an unloaded firearm on the Capitol grounds outside the Capitol Building?
No, in the AG's view. Ark. Code Ann. 5-73-122(a)(1) bars only a 'loaded firearm or other deadly weapon' on Capitol grounds, and the criminal-statute strict-construction rule plus the void-for-vaguenes…
Can a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment legalize recreational and medical marijuana along with state-regulated cultivation, retail, and testing facilities?
Not on this draft. The AG rejected the Arkansas Cannabis Amendment because the definitions and operative provisions did not match: marijuana licenses were defined as individual-only but Section 9 cont…
Can Fayetteville consolidate its old firefighter pension fund into the state LOPFI retirement system without committing an illegal exaction?
Yes. The AG concluded the consolidation is not an unconstitutional lending of credit or an illegal exaction because the obligation to retired firefighters is ultimately the city's obligation, not the …
Does Arkansas concealed-carry law restrict open carry, and have Arkansas State Police rules overstepped the statutes?
The AG declined to answer. The same questions were on appeal in a Pulaski County case (Tanner v. Department of Arkansas State Police), and the AG's longstanding policy is not to opine on issues pendin…
Can a sitting Arkansas state legislator also serve on a drainage improvement district board of commissioners?
No. The AG concluded service on a drainage improvement district board is a 'civil office under this State' and Ark. Const. art. 5, section 10 bars a sitting legislator from holding such an office duri…
Can a public school district adopt a policy that overrides Act 1078 of 2015 and bars concealed-carry licensees from leaving handguns locked in cars at the school?
No for parents and visitors. The AG cross-referenced her Opinion 2015-099 issued the same day and concluded that a district policy restricting general public conduct that Act 1078 allows would be cont…
Are clinic parcels owned by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit hospital automatically exempt from Arkansas property tax?
No. The Arkansas constitutional charitable exemption is based on the actual use of the property, not the charitable status of the owner or the owner's mission. Whether the specific parcels qualify is …
Can a school employee with a concealed-carry license leave a handgun in a locked car parked at the school even if the superintendent objects?
For parents and visitors, yes: Act 1078 of 2015 and its companion statutes let a licensee leave a concealed handgun locked in an unattended car in a school parking lot, and the school cannot override …
Can a job applicant block release of her resume content under the Arkansas FOIA's personnel-records exception when she was not hired?
Not through the AG. The AG can only review custodian decisions about personnel records and employee evaluations, and those categories apply to employees not applicants. Since the requester was not hir…
Can the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment qualify for the 2016 ballot if the proposal text is ambiguous?
Not on this draft. The AG rejected David Couch's proposed Medical Marijuana Amendment because of ambiguities in the underlying text. Couch later resubmitted a cleaner version that the AG certified in …
Do signatures collected on a defunct-voting-district wet-dry petition in 2013 still count after the 2015 legislature changed the election rules?
No. The 2015 amendments materially changed the ballot title (no more 'manufacture' or 'off-premises' language) and reduced the signature threshold from 38% to 15%. Walmsley v. Martin requires signator…
Does the FOIA exemption for 'county or municipal parks and recreation department records' shield all county records or only county parks-department records?
Only county parks records. The AG read 'parks and recreation department' to modify both 'county' and 'municipal,' so the exemption shields only parks-department records, not all county records. Other …
Does the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace and its board get the same tort immunity as cities and counties under Ark. Code Ann. 21-9-301?
Yes. The AG concluded the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace, its board of directors, and their officers and employees are all 'political subdivisions' covered by the tort-immunity statute. The Mar…
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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.