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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When an Arkansas school district investigates and suspends an employee for misconduct involving a student, can the district withhold the investigative records by saying there's no compelling public interest?
Likely no. The AG concluded the public has a compelling interest in disclosure when the conduct occurred during school hours and affected a student. Even when the employee holds no leadership role, th…
Can a retired Little Rock city employee block disclosure of his personnel file by claiming the request is meant to embarrass him?
No. Retired status is not a basis to refuse a FOIA request, and the requester's motive is generally irrelevant. The custodian's release decision was nearly correct, but additional redactions (date of …
Can the subject of an Arkansas FOIA request for police-internal-affairs records block their release based on requester noncitizenship, requester motive, or a record-keeping statute?
The AG could not opine definitively on the merits because she had not seen the records. But she said the reasons Mr. Arthur (a former police chief) gave for objecting to release of three Springdale Po…
Can a city release a former police chief's personnel and disciplinary records under the Arkansas FOIA when the chief objects on the ground that the file was already produced to the press?
The AG concluded the City of Tontitown's custodian had correctly applied the FOIA to a request for former police chief Kris Arthur's personnel file. The records were properly classified as personnel o…
Can a city release a former employee's disciplinary records under the Arkansas FOIA when the employee objects?
The AG concluded the City of Marianna's custodian could release two disciplinary records of a former employee in response to a FOIA request. The four-part test for employee-evaluation records was met:…
When the custodian asks the AG to decide whether interview statements are an employee's personnel record or another employee's evaluation record, can the AG make that classification?
The AG declined to opine. The City of Little Rock's FOIA Coordinator was uncertain whether interview statements taken during an internal harassment investigation belonged in the complainant's personne…
Is a school district's decision to withhold employee-evaluation records under the Arkansas FOIA proper when the employee was never suspended or terminated?
Yes. The North Little Rock School District's records custodian classified the records as employee-evaluation records and withheld them because the four-part test for release was not met. The AG conclu…
When the records custodian is unsure whether a UAMS research-misconduct report is a personnel or evaluation record, can the AG opine on whether the FOIA release is proper?
The AG declined to issue a definitive opinion. Her review under § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i) is triggered only after the custodian first classifies a record as either a personnel record or an employee-eval…
If a city mayor wrote a termination memo for a public works director but later rescinded the termination, can the memo still be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
It depends on a fact question the AG could not resolve. The City of Cave Springs proposed to release a termination memo from its former mayor regarding the Public Works Department manager. The memo wa…
If a university employee resigned, can his personnel and employee-evaluation records still be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
The AG declined to opine on the substance because she had not been provided the actual records and could not act as a fact-finder. But she flagged a key dispositive issue: if the employee actually res…
Can a third party named in another employee's personnel file block release under the Arkansas FOIA based on embarrassment or potential slander?
No. Lisa Balencia objected to release of an Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs document that mentioned her name in a former employee's FOIA-released personnel file. The AG concluded that the port…
Can a police department release a fired officer's personnel and investigative records under FOIA over the officer's objection?
Yes. The Fort Smith Police Department's decision to release the records was consistent with FOIA. The terminated employee's belief that his termination was unfounded was not a legally sufficient groun…
Can a city release a former employee's ID photograph and personnel file under FOIA over the employee's objection?
The custodian's withholding of address, date of birth, telephone number, and Social Security number was consistent with FOIA. The decision to release the employee's photograph was likely consistent wi…
Can a state agency release a list of employee names, titles, salaries, start dates, gender, and race under Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration's decision to release a list of employee names, titles and divisions, salaries, start dates, genders, and races was consistent with FOIA. The…
Can a city release the place of residence of every Little Rock firefighter under FOIA, or is that protected?
Withholding the firefighters' 'place of residence' was consistent with FOIA, but the controlling reason was Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-105(b)(13) (personal contact information including home addresses), not…
Can an Arkansas city release a job applicant's application under FOIA over the applicant's objection?
Yes. Job applications and resumes for public-employee positions are personnel records under the Arkansas FOIA, releasable after redacting exempt personal information. The applicant's stated dislike of…
Can a county release a successful job applicant's records to a TV station under Arkansas FOIA, and what redactions are appropriate?
The decision to release the job applications was generally consistent with FOIA. The AG could not opine on every redaction without seeing the unredacted records, but flagged the redaction of reference…
Can a custodian release only employment dates, salary, and position in response to an Arkansas FOIA request for personnel records?
The AG could not opine on the specific records because she had not seen them. The opinion laid out the FOIA framework: records can qualify as personnel records or evaluation records depending on how t…
Are employee-initiated harassment complaints exempt from Arkansas FOIA as employee-evaluation records?
The AG could not see the records, so it could not confirm the custodian's classification. But the office emphasized that to count as an employee-evaluation record under Arkansas FOIA, a record has to …
Can the City of Little Rock release a Housing & Neighborhood Programs employee's ID photograph under FOIA over his objection?
The release of the photograph is likely consistent with FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records test, and the requester's identity or m…
Can the City of Little Rock release a code enforcement officer's ID photograph under FOIA over his objection?
The release of the photograph is likely consistent with FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records test, and the requester's identity or m…
Can a Little Rock employee block release of her city ID photograph under Arkansas FOIA by objecting?
The custodian's decision to release the city ID photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records test, …
Can a Little Rock senior code officer block release of her ID photo and personnel file under Arkansas FOIA by objecting to the requester?
The custodian's decision to release the photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. The objection does not articulate a legally sufficient reason to withhold the records, and the requester's identi…
Can a Little Rock city employee block release of her ID photo and personnel file under Arkansas FOIA by objecting to the requester?
The custodian's decision to release the photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. The objection does not articulate a legally sufficient reason to withhold the records, and the requester's identi…
Can a city release a public employee's personnel file and city ID photo over the employee's objection under Arkansas FOIA?
The custodian's decision to release the city ID photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally disclosable under the personnel-records test, and a requ…
Does Arkansas FOIA require a city to release a public employee's hourly wage and salary history when the employee objects?
Yes. Salary information is a personnel record, and the AG has consistently said release of public-employee salary information almost never rises to a 'clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.…
Under the Arkansas FOIA, can a city release a workplace harassment complaint and an exit interview as personnel records, and which redactions are required?
The records were properly classified as personnel records that must be released with redactions. Personal contact information, employee numbers, dates of birth, and similar items had to be redacted, b…
When the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality releases an employee's personnel file under FOIA, must a photocopy of the employee's driver's license be entirely withheld?
The custodian's redaction work was mostly correct, but a photocopy of the employee's driver's license must be entirely withheld, not just the license number redacted. The AG also told the employee to …
Can the Little Rock School District release a former employee's eligibility-for-continued-employment file under Arkansas FOIA over the subject's privacy objection?
Yes, mostly. The records were properly classified as employee-evaluation records, and the four-prong test for release was satisfied. The personnel-records balancing test that the subject's attorney in…
Can a former Arkansas Department of Human Services employee block release of her personnel file by arguing the requester wants it 'for personal gain'?
No. The custodian's analysis cannot be based on the requester's subjective motive. The FOIA personnel-records test is objective. Without seeing the actual records, the AG could not opine on individual…
Can a Little Rock firefighter use Arkansas FOIA to obtain the internal affairs investigation file resulting from his complaint against another employee, plus the Civil Service Commission appeal transcript?
The complaining employee is entitled to his own statement and submissions because employees can always access their own personnel records. The internal investigation file is an employee-evaluation rec…
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…
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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
Can an Arkansas school district avoid Arkansas FOIA by hiring a private firm to handle confidential superintendent applications?
No. AG Rutledge concluded that when a private search firm collects superintendent applications for a public school district, the firm is acting as the 'functional equivalent' of the district, and the …
Can a Fort Smith Police Department internal investigation file be released under FOIA when the officer resigned before the investigation finished, but the department says he was terminated?
The AG declined to definitively resolve the question. Whether the officer resigned or was terminated is a factual dispute outside the AG's review authority. The custodian must classify the records and…
Are complaints about Arkansas public school employees exempt from FOIA, and what should a requester do when an agency claims a record does not exist?
The AG declined to opine on the abstract question of whether complaints are exempt, explaining that classification depends on the specific record's circumstances. The AG also noted she has no power to…
Can a state agency release a former employee's evaluation record after FOIA request when the record was the basis for a DUI-related termination?
Yes. AG Rutledge confirmed that an Arkansas Department of Community Correction (ACC) record was properly classified as an employee evaluation record, that the four-element test for release was met (in…
Did the City of Rogers properly classify and redact a former police employee's personnel file under the Arkansas FOIA?
Mostly consistent, with three significant corrections. The AG concluded that the City of Rogers correctly classified most of a former police employee's records but flagged classification errors. Exhib…
Can a deputy sheriff stop the release of his 20-year-old personnel records under the Arkansas FOIA?
Largely consistent with the FOIA, with exceptions. Officer Mike Lira asked the AG to review the Benton County Sheriff's Office's decision to release his entire personnel file, including records dating…
What can happen to an Arkansas city or city official who lies about or stalls a FOIA request?
Arkansas FOIA carries a stack of remedies, not just one. The AG identified civil appeal to circuit court (with attorney's fees and costs in some cases), contempt for ignoring a court order, a Class C …
Can a city audit committee meet in closed session to protect sensitive information?
No. The AG read 'audit committee' as a subgroup of a city council or board, which makes it a governing body under the Arkansas FOIA. Governing-body meetings have to be public unless one of four narrow…
Is Bret Bielema's personal services contract with the Razorback Foundation a public record subject to release under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes, with two redactions. The AG concluded that the personal services and guaranty agreement between former Razorback football coach Bret Bielema and the Razorback Foundation was properly classified b…
Should a former city employee's personnel file and internal affairs investigation be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
Largely consistent with the FOIA. Stacey Witherell, the City of Little Rock's custodian, asked the AG to review her decision to release former city employee Brandon Gurley's personnel file and the int…
Can the Arkansas House Speaker withhold a sexual harassment investigation document about a legislator under FOIA?
Yes, exempt. The AG concluded that a document related to a sexual misconduct or harassment investigation against an Arkansas legislator was exempt from disclosure under § 25-19-105(c)(1) as an employe…
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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.