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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I run a small police department. Someone has FOIA'd a former officer's personnel file. I have admin records, a written warning, a paid-administrative-leave letter, a final investigation letter, investigative notes, and a resignation letter. What can I release?
Release most of it, but hold the investigative notes unless the resignation was actually a constructive termination. The administrative records (job application, training acknowledgments, separation n…
Does Arkansas's new open-meeting law (Act 505 of 2025) apply to a city council, the mayor, or both?
Both. Act 505 applies to a city's 'governing body' and its individual members. A city council is a governing body, and because the mayor is ex officio president of the council, the mayor counts as a c…
When a Little Rock police officer is fired, are the off-boarding forms and the termination letter subject to release under Arkansas's FOIA?
The off-boarding and termination clearance forms are personnel records and must be released with limited redactions (personal contact info, employee ID number). The termination letter is an evaluation…
If I'm settling a car-accident injury claim and the insurer wants me to sign a hold-harmless agreement, can the insurer use that to avoid paying my chiropractor's medical lien?
No. Arkansas's Medical Lien Act says the insurer cannot pay the patient before the lien is paid or released, and the patient cannot waive the personal-injury claim while a perfected lien is unpaid. A …
If a city's mayor fires an employee, the city council reverses that decision and reinstates the employee, and an outside investigator's report exists about the employee, can someone get the investigation report under FOIA?
No. Because the council reinstated the employee, the firing was not 'administratively final,' so the four-part test for releasing an employee evaluation record fails. The investigator's report stays w…
If the State Board of Education takes over a public school district and removes the local school board, does that district become a 'state entity'?
It depends on the purpose. For most statutes that define 'state entity' (energy bonds, cabinet departments, the divisive-concepts law), no, a state-controlled district is still not a state entity. But…
If text messages from a state trooper's personal phone end up in the trooper's personnel file because of an investigation, can the public get them under FOIA, even though the trooper says they're personal?
Yes. Once the messages are in the personnel file connected to the trooper's employment, they're personnel records. The custodian must redact family-related personal content but may release the rest. T…
Can a 501(c)(3) nonprofit give away college football tickets as door prizes at a fundraiser without breaking Arkansas gambling law?
Yes, if attendees aren't paying anything specifically to win the tickets. If they pay just to attend the event and the door prize is a free drawing among attendees, that's not gambling. If they pay fo…
A federal court in Texas struck down the federal ban on home distilling. Does that mean Arkansas's ban on home stills is also unenforceable?
No. The Texas decision applied only to the federal ban and only to the parties in that case. Arkansas's law against owning, possessing, or transporting illicit stills is a state law based on Arkansas'…
Is Arkansas's loitering law (the version updated in 2023) constitutional, and can police give tickets to people who hang around on a sidewalk or roadway?
The 2023 version is presumed constitutional and likely survives First Amendment challenge because it's content-neutral and narrowly targets harassing, alarming, or traffic-blocking conduct. Police off…
If a bank or brokerage holding my retirement savings collapses, can the bank's creditors take my money to pay the bank's debts?
Mostly no, but not absolutely. Under Arkansas's UCC Article 8, your financial assets at a brokerage are not property of the brokerage. In an insolvency, federal law (the Securities Investor Protection…
Can the Arkansas AG review whether a police department properly redacted call-for-service and incident reports under FOIA?
Not under the special opinion-request statute the requester invoked. That statute (A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i)) only lets the AG opine on personnel records and employee-evaluation records. Call-for…
Can a police officer get her own body-camera-review evaluation forms from her department under FOIA, even though those forms are normally exempt from release to the public?
Yes. The FOIA has a special rule (A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(2)) that gives a public employee a right to her own personnel records and evaluation records, even when those records would otherwise be exempt …
If a public agency hires me, can someone get my whole job application (resume, cover letter, references) under FOIA?
Yes, with redactions. Your application, resume, and cover letter are personnel records subject to release. Personal information (date of birth, SSN, contact info) is redacted. Your prior salaries from…
What does it take to get a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment's popular name and ballot title approved by the AG before signatures can be collected?
The popular name has to clearly identify the measure. The ballot title must accurately describe the measure and (under Act 602 of 2023) be written at an eighth-grade reading level on the Flesch-Kincai…
Can someone get an internal-affairs file from a sheriff's office under FOIA, when the investigation didn't result in any discipline?
Mostly no. The investigation memos, interviews, complaint forms, and Garrity notices are evaluation records and stay closed because no employee was suspended or terminated, so the four-part test fails…
Did Arkansas Corrections properly redact a warden's personnel file before releasing it to a FOIA requester?
Mostly yes, but with two errors. The custodian forgot to redact the warden's tax withholdings and net pay (those should have been redacted) and incorrectly redacted his race, sex, and salary (those sh…
Is a 2013 suspension letter (with a written reprimand inside) and a birth certificate from a Pine Bluff officer's personnel file releasable under FOIA?
The 2013 suspension letter is releasable as an evaluation record (the four-part test is met because the discipline is over twelve years old). But the written reprimand portion of the letter must be re…
When a sheriff's deputy was investigated for two separate complaints, suspended on one, and exonerated on the other, what gets released under FOIA?
The corrective-action form is a personnel record (releasable). The suspension letter that states the grounds is an evaluation record but the four-part test is met for the sustained complaint, so it's …
Can the City of Ward levy 'volunteer fire department' dues under the new 2025 fire-dues law (Act 673)?
No. Act 673 lets county quorum courts levy dues for volunteer fire departments serving unincorporated areas, and lets towns and second-class cities do the same for their volunteer fire departments. Bu…
What gets released and what gets withheld when someone FOIAs the entire personnel file of a long-serving police officer, including commendations, complaints, investigations, and disciplinary records?
Administrative records and unsolicited third-party commendations and complaints come out (with redactions). Department-generated commendations stay closed. Written reprimands and minor warnings stay c…
When the Arkansas Department of Corrections releases a current or former employee's personnel file under FOIA, what specific information has to be blacked out before the file goes to the requester?
The custodian was right to release the personnel file with redactions, but missed several items the AG says must also be redacted: text describing separation from employment on the reference-consent f…
Do public library staff in Arkansas have a parent-like duty to children visiting the library, and are they required to report suspected child abuse?
No, library staff do not stand in loco parentis to children during a regular library visit because library attendance is not compulsory and libraries don't educate kids the way schools do. But every a…
In Arkansas, can a county judge sign a contract for the county without going back to the quorum court for approval, and what limits apply?
Yes. Under Amendment 55 and A.C.A. § 14-14-1102, the quorum court decides what services and goods to fund and appropriates the money, but the county judge alone picks the vendor and signs the contract…
If a North Little Rock police officer was recommended for termination but resigned first, then was decertified by the state and later recertified, can the public see the internal affairs investigation records under FOIA?
The records are employee-evaluation records, so they can only be released if the four-part test is met. The first prong (suspension or termination) is the threshold question. Resignation in the face o…
Our city is in a wet county but sits inside what used to be a dry township that no longer exists as a recognized district. How do we hold a vote to legally sell alcohol there?
You hold a 'local option election for a defunct voting district' under A.C.A. § 3-8-602. The county board of election commissioners issues a resolution defining the boundaries (after a written request…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the popular name and ballot title for the proposed 'Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment,' and what would the sponsors need to fix to get certification?
The AG rejected the ballot title for two reasons. One: Act 602 of 2025 requires ballot titles to be at an eighth-grade reading level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale, and the resubmitted title scored 9.3 (…
When a Prairie Grove police officer resigns instead of being fired, what parts of his personnel file (administrative records, performance evaluations, a written reprimand, and IA investigative records) can the public see under FOIA?
Administrative records (employment application, training certifications, leave spreadsheets, and similar) are personnel records and can be released, but several specific items not yet redacted should …
Is a redacted spreadsheet that lists multiple Conway Police Department employees alongside disciplinary dispositions, but doesn't summarize each employee's misconduct, a personnel record or an evaluation record under FOIA, and can the public see it?
It's a 'mixed personnel record' (it relates to multiple employees and was not created to evaluate any of them), and it should be released. Because the spreadsheet only lists names and dispositions, wi…
I'm a police officer who was terminated and now my termination letter has been requested under FOIA. Can the city actually release that letter?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Cabot termination letter is properly classified as an employee-evaluation record because it states the grounds for termination, and the four-element release test under s…
When a Jonesboro police officer is the subject of a citizen complaint and gets disciplined including suspension, can the public see the complaint form, the performance notice, and the suspension letter under FOIA?
Yes. The citizen-complaint form is a personnel record that has to be released because the public's interest in knowing whether an officer abused public trust outweighs his privacy interest. The perfor…
If the Arkansas Department of Corrections plans to release a current agent's personnel file under FOIA, is the supervisor-completed promotion recommendation a personnel record or an evaluation record, and is a college transcript releasable?
The promotion recommendation is an evaluation record, not a personnel record, because it's created at the employer's request to evaluate the employee. Since the agent has not been suspended or termina…
In rural Arkansas, can the quorum court raise volunteer fire department dues without going back to the voters, and can the dues be charged on a timberland parcel that doesn't have a house or business on it?
Whether the quorum court can raise dues without an election depends on what voters originally approved: if the original ballot measure didn't lock in a specific rate, the quorum court can raise dues; …
Can the Boy Scouts (now Scouting America) sell off any of the 2,840 acres they got from the State of Arkansas in 1976 without losing the property to the state, and is the 1973 act that created those restrictions still good law?
No, they can't sell. The 1976 deed contains direct restraints on alienation (no sale, donation, lease, or conveyance) plus an indirect use restriction. Although direct restraints are normally void at …
Can a county library board claim the entire balance of the county public library fund (from voter-approved millage) and hold it in its own bank account, paying expenses directly without going through the county treasurer?
Yes. Under A.C.A. § 13-2-404(c)(3), if the quorum court enacts an ordinance directing the county treasurer to release the undistributed balance of the county public library fund, the library board can…
What does the Arkansas Attorney General have to consider when deciding whether to certify a ballot title for an initiated constitutional amendment, and why was the original 'Arkansas Ballot Measure Rights Amendment' ballot title rejected on its first submission?
The AG checks (1) whether the popular name accurately and impartially identifies the proposal, (2) whether the ballot title summarizes the amendment fairly, briefly, and without partisan tilt or techn…
What was the Arkansas Attorney General's substituted and certified ballot title for David Couch's 'An Amendment Concerning Constitutional Amendments, Initiated Acts, and Referendums,' and what does that ballot title actually say?
After three rejections (Opinions 2025-018, 2025-021, 2025-026), the AG accepted Couch's fourth submission, made minor changes to ensure the ballot title clearly explained the proposal's purpose while …
Should the Little Rock Police Department release commendation letters in a police officer's personnel file under FOIA, and does it matter who wrote the commendation?
Yes, sometimes. The classification turns on who created the letter. Commendation letters created by or at the behest of the employer are evaluation records and must be withheld unless the four-part te…
If a Rogers police officer's file gets requested under FOIA after a suspension, what gets released and what gets redacted, and does it matter if the requester wants the file just to harass the officer?
The custodian was right to redact the driver's license number and to release the suspension/termination-related evaluations. But the custodian missed several items that must also be redacted: employee…
When does an Arkansas law passed in 2025 without an emergency clause go into effect?
August 5, 2025. The 95th General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 5, 2025. Acts without an emergency clause take effect the day after the 90-day referendum-petition window closes. The 90-day window …
Does the Arkansas State Medical Board's Rule 36 (which governs abortion procedures) define 'gestational age' and 'medical emergency' the same way the Arkansas Code does, and what happens when a rule's definitions don't match the statutes the rule is implementing?
Mostly yes, but Rule 36 partially conflicts with the Arkansas Code in two specific places. First, Rule 36's 'medical emergency' definition omits the 'highly lethal fetal disorder' element that A.C.A. …
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the third version of David Couch's proposed amendment ('An Amendment Concerning Constitutional Amendments, Initiated Acts and Referendum'), and what did the sponsor need to fix?
The two prior substantive issues were resolved, but the General Assembly had since passed Act 602 of 2025, which became effective April 14, 2025, and bars certification of any ballot title above eight…
Are properties of regional intermodal authorities (port and freight facilities created under Arkansas law) exempt from local property taxes assessed by counties, cities, school districts, and improvement districts?
Yes. The Regional Intermodal Facilities Act exempts authority properties from all local and municipal taxes, which includes property taxes assessed by any political subdivision: counties, cities, scho…
When the Cabot Police Department received a FOIA request for an officer's suspension letters and a citizen complaint, which had to be released and which could be withheld?
All four documents are properly releasable. A February 2022 suspension letter that does not specify the grounds for suspension is a personnel record subject to disclosure under the Young v. Rice balan…
Does Arkansas's cleft-palate and craniofacial insurance coverage law apply to Medicaid, and how much dental work does it require an insurer to cover?
It depends on which Medicaid program. Traditional fee-for-service Medicaid is probably not a 'health benefit plan' under A.C.A. § 23-79-1501, but Medicaid programs that route beneficiaries through pri…
Can a county pledge money it gets from the state's Property Tax Relief Fund as security for bonds that finance library capital improvements (a new building, renovation, etc.)?
Only if the underlying property tax that the relief fund is replacing could be used for that purpose. The relief fund is a state reimbursement for property taxes counties don't collect because of the …
Someone made a FOIA request for the personnel files and job applications of three of our city's police officers. As the custodian, what do I have to redact and what must I release?
The job applications (titled 'personal history statements') are personnel records and the AG agrees they go out, but with corrections to the redactions. You correctly redacted SSNs, personal contact i…
Why did the Attorney General reject David Couch's revised initiative and referendum amendment for a second time in April 2025?
Couch's second submission fixed two issues from the first rejection (Opinion 2025-018) but introduced new ones. The revision narrowed the AG's certification standard from 'not misleading' to only 'acc…
Can an Arkansas city council member legally attend meetings and vote remotely (Zoom or phone) when the Governor hasn't declared an emergency, and can the city pass its own ordinance authorizing that?
Probably yes on both counts, but Act 505 of 2025 will rewrite the analysis once it takes effect. Without considering Act 505: a city can hold electronic public meetings outside a Governor-declared eme…
When the City of Little Rock got a FOIA request for an employee's personnel file and emails, which redactions on her job applications, salary memo, and performance reviews were correct?
The custodian's decision to release administrative personnel records was mostly correct. But the salary-adjustment memo had inconsistent redactions: names, job positions, and salary information should…
When the City of Hampton received a FOIA request for a former police officer's personnel file, which pieces of information could the city release and which had to be blacked out?
Most of the personnel file is releasable. The custodian properly redacted the officer's phone number, address, date of birth, social security number, and the beneficiary name and relationship on LOPFI…
Why was the proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment to overhaul the initiative and referendum process rejected by the Attorney General in March 2025?
AG Tim Griffin rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title for a constitutional amendment titled 'An Amendment to Amend the Initiative and Referendum Process.' The proposal had two material am…
Who has the legal authority to give a raise to a county tax collector's office staff or a county circuit clerk's office staff in Arkansas?
Only the quorum court can set salaries and appropriate raises for employees of elected county officials. The county judge can veto, but the quorum court can override with a three-fifths vote. If a rai…
If I'm a contract poultry farmer in Arkansas and my contract requires me to mow around the chicken houses for biosecurity, can I buy a zero-turn mower sales-tax-free as farm equipment?
Probably yes, even though the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration has historically said no. The AG broke with DFA, opining that a court would likely find a mower used only for contract-req…
Are Arkansas's two-year ban on former state legislators lobbying and one-year ban on former constitutional officers lobbying constitutional under the First Amendment?
The AG concluded the two-year and one-year complete lobbying bans in A.C.A. § 21-1-402(f)–(g) probably violate the First Amendment because lobbying is core protected political speech, the bans are sub…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the ballot title for 'The Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2026,' which would require non-public schools that take state funds (or state tax credits) to meet the same academic and accreditation standards as public schools, and expand state education obligations?
Yes. The AG certified both the popular name and ballot title as submitted, since they were identical to a previous proposal he had already substituted and certified in Op. 2024-079. The AG cautioned t…
Who is supposed to pick up an Arkansas inmate from a federal prison or another state's prison and bring them to the Arkansas Division of Correction once they finish their out-of-state sentence?
Nobody, under current Arkansas law. The 2015 amendment to A.C.A. § 12-27-113 took the duty away from the Division of Correction and assigned it only to county sheriffs for inmates already 'in their ch…
Do Arkansas county judges have to display 'In God We Trust' and the U.S. and Arkansas flags in county buildings, or does Amendment 55's grant of custodial authority over county property let them opt out?
County judges must comply. Section 1-4-133 covers 'local building administrators,' which the AG reads to include county judges, and applies to all publicly funded buildings under their oversight. Amen…
Does the Arkansas AG have to review and approve a contract between two cities for one to provide police services to the other, or can the city councils just authorize it themselves?
AG approval is not required. The Greers Ferry-Higden police services agreement is a contract under A.C.A. § 25-20-108(a), not a true interlocal cooperation agreement under § 25-20-104(f). Section 25-2…
Can the City of Fayetteville cap the application and background-check fees that landlords charge prospective tenants, or does Arkansas state law preempt that kind of price regulation?
No. A city cannot cap landlord rental application fees or background check fees. A.C.A. § 14-43-608(a) preempts municipal regulation of the price of those services. Section 14-54-1409 (the rent-contro…
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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.