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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Did the Little Rock Police Training Academy properly handle the FOIA release of CLEST records related to Officer Schiefelbein?
Mostly consistent, with two exceptions. The AG agreed with the Little Rock Police Training Academy's classification of forms and documents sent to the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards …
Could the City of Little Rock release names of police recruits who got $5,000 incentive payments and quit, plus their CLEST F-4 forms and the incentive-pay policy, without violating Arkansas FOIA?
Likely yes, with redactions. Salary and pay records of public employees are generally open under Arkansas FOIA. The custodian must scrub personal identifiers (home address, dates of birth, Social Secu…
Was the Arkansas Department of Human Services custodian's decision to release a redacted personnel file consistent with the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. After reviewing the records, the AG concluded the DHS custodian's redactions were proper and no further redactions were required. The specific items the employee asked to keep confidential (perso…
Was Arkansas Community Correction's decision to release Tenisha Brown's redacted personnel file consistent with the Arkansas FOIA?
Not entirely. The AG agreed most documents were properly subject to disclosure but identified additional information that had to be redacted (insurance, tax info, banking, payroll deductions, personne…
Can Arkansas release citizen complaints about an Alcoholic Beverage Control enforcement agent under FOIA, even if the agent objects?
Yes. AG Rutledge confirmed that citizen complaints about an Arkansas ABC enforcement agent are personnel records under FOIA, and that under the Young v. Rice balancing test the public's interest in di…
Can a Jefferson County agency withhold a former employee's salary, termination letters, and personnel file from a FOIA request?
Mostly release. AG Rutledge could not opine without seeing the records, but laid out the standards: a former public employee's salary must be released, termination letters that only reflect the fact o…
Can a former public employee in Arkansas get a copy of the grievance file about her, including names of other employees mentioned?
Mostly yes. AG Rutledge said the FOIA gave the subject of a grievance file a right of access, and disclosure of other employees' personnel-record portions did not invade their privacy under the Young …
Can an Arkansas agency redact other employees' names from a personnel file the subject is entitled to see?
AG Rutledge said the former employee was entitled to her own records, and redactions of other employees' information were not obviously justified on the face of the document. Without specific facts to…
Can an Arkansas contractor block disclosure of contract fees and rates under FOIA's 'competitive advantage' exemption?
AG Rutledge said the FOIA 'competitive advantage' exemption requires specific, evidentiary proof of likely substantial competitive injury, not conclusory claims. Contract pricing rarely qualifies, bec…
Can a former Arkansas city employee block release of disciplinary documents from his personnel file?
AG Rutledge said the City of Jonesboro could release the disciplinary records of former employee Erick Woodruff. The four-prong evaluation-records test was satisfied. Three records that appeared to co…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block FOIA release of his job application and contract?
AG Rutledge confirmed that the LRSD custodian's plan to release John Kuykendall's job application and current contract was consistent with the FOIA, with personal contact information and college trans…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block release of her job application and contract under FOIA?
AG Rutledge said job applications and employment contracts of public school employees are personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure. The custodian's plan to release them with personal contact infor…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block release of her job application and contract under FOIA?
AG Rutledge said job applications and employment contracts of public school employees are personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure. The custodian's plan to release them with personal contact infor…
Can an Arkansas community college employee block release of his Employee Disclosure and Certification form and his employment contract under FOIA when someone asks whether he is related to a board trustee?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Employee Disclosure and Certification form was a personnel record subject to release under the Arkansas FOIA, with the employee's Social Security number redacted. The AG…
Can a state agency release a public employee's driving record in response to an Arkansas FOIA request for the personnel file?
AG Rutledge concluded that the State Treasurer custodian's decision to release a former employee's driving record (with redactions) was consistent with the Arkansas FOIA. Although release implicates s…
When can a Fort Smith Traffic Control Manager's disciplinary records be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The Arkansas AG concluded the custodian's decision to release records of an adverse disciplinary action against Fort Smith Traffic Control Manager Gary Six was consistent with the FOIA. The recor…
When can a Fort Smith city employee's disciplinary records be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The Arkansas AG concluded the custodian's decision to release records of a recent adverse disciplinary action against Fort Smith Streets Department Electronics Technician Cody Mathis was consiste…
Can the Arkansas State Police refuse a FOIA request for records of an incident involving one of their officers?
Generally yes, if the records are employee evaluation records. The Arkansas AG could not assess the specific records (not provided) but opined that under Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105(c)(1), employee eva…
When a person's employment application at an Arkansas public agency is requested under FOIA, what gets released and what gets redacted?
Mostly yes. The Arkansas AG concluded the records custodian's decision to release a redacted job application of an Arkansas School for the Blind employee was largely consistent with the FOIA. The AG f…
Can an Arkansas city withhold witness statements from an open internal harassment investigation under FOIA, when no suspension or termination has occurred yet?
Yes. The AG opined that witness statements gathered during an ongoing internal harassment investigation are employee-evaluation records, and because no suspension or termination has reached final admi…
If I'm the subject of a Little Rock internal investigation, am I entitled to the investigation file under Arkansas FOIA?
Mostly yes. The AG opined that under § 25-19-105(c)(2), the subject of personnel or evaluation records can obtain them even when the public cannot. Portions that are exclusively another employee's eva…
Can a Little Rock police officer's job application be released to a FOIA requester after personal contact details are redacted?
Yes. The AG concluded a Little Rock Police sergeant's employment application is a personnel record properly subject to release, and that the custodian's redactions of personal-privacy information were…
Can a FOIA requester get the names, salaries, and years of service for University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences employees?
Yes. The AG opined that names, salaries from 2013 forward, and years of service for UAMS Respiratory Care Services employees are personnel records subject to disclosure under Arkansas FOIA.
Under Arkansas FOIA, which Little Rock Police Department personnel records (names, pay, addresses, dates of birth) can the public obtain?
The AG opined that LRPD properly determined names, race, age, gender, dates of hire, promotions, pay, and pay increases of officers are releasable personnel records. Home addresses, social security nu…
Can an Arkansas sheriff issue a blanket denial of a FOIA request for records about an employee's alleged harassment, and does the employee's resignation unlock those records?
The AG could not opine on specific records she had not seen, but she identified three key principles: (1) the FOIA does not require detailed denial explanations, but the cited exemption should be prov…
Can an Arkansas state agency release a former employee's personnel records under FOIA, and what specific information must be redacted to protect personal privacy?
The AG concluded that the personnel records of the DF&A employee at issue are properly classified as personnel records and are subject to release, but specific additional redactions of marital/depende…
Could the Little Rock School District release a teacher's personnel and disciplinary records in response to a FOIA request, and what had to be redacted?
Mostly yes, with two carve-outs. The AG concluded that the custodian's decision to release the records to a FOIA requester was generally consistent with FOIA. Two specific issues: (1) insurance premiu…
Can the public get a letter from a public agency telling an employee about disciplinary action through an Arkansas FOIA request?
Yes, with redactions. The AG concluded that the disciplinary letter to a West River Valley RSWMD employee was an employee evaluation record, that the four-part test for release (suspension or terminat…
Can the public get a copy of an ADWS employee's redacted job application through Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. After reviewing the application that ADWS intended to release, the AG concluded that the custodian's decision to release it as redacted was consistent with FOIA. A job application is a personnel …
Can the public get a copy of a state agency employee's job application through an Arkansas FOIA request, and what has to be redacted?
Generally yes. The AG concluded that documents constituting an application for public employment with the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services were subject to public disclosure under FOIA, with r…
Is whether my early-retirement payment went to me as a stipend or into a retirement plan a public record?
The AG concluded that UALR's resolution was a personnel record. The amount of the early-retirement allowance had to be disclosed because of the strong public interest in expenditure of public funds, b…
Can a state university release records showing whether a faculty member's early-retirement payment went to him directly or into a retirement plan?
The AG concluded that the early-retirement resolution was properly classified as a personnel record. The public clearly had a substantial interest in the payment amount, but the AG was not persuaded t…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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 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 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…
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 …
Can an Arkansas former employee block release of her personnel file by simply objecting that it is an invasion of privacy?
Not without saying more. The AG explained that a blanket objection to release of a personnel record, with no specific documents or arguments identified, is not enough to overcome a redacted release ap…
How many days does an Arkansas FOIA custodian have to produce digital records like text messages, voicemails, or files on a work computer?
Custodians generally had three business days under Arkansas FOIA to produce a nonexempt record if it was in active use or storage. The AG concluded that most electronic files, including computer docum…
Can a school district refuse to release a successful applicant's job application and resume under Arkansas FOIA as a personnel-records privacy invasion?
Likely not. The AG concluded that the Pine Bluff School District's decision to withhold the successful applicant's job application and resume for the Executive Director of Operations position was prob…
Could the Fort Smith Police Department release records of a sexual harassment internal investigation after redacting the complaining officer's identity?
Yes, with additional redactions. The AG concluded the records were employee-evaluation records of the supervisor accused of harassment, and they had to be released because the four-part test was met: …
Can the Arkansas DHS release personnel records about a current employee under FOIA when the documents contain information that formed the basis for an adverse employment action?
The AG split the question. Most of the attorney's specific questions were outside the scope of FOIA review under § 25-19-105(c)(3); the AG can only opine on whether the custodian's release decision is…
Can a public health center release a former employee's basic employment status record under Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The AG reviewed the one-page record (a print-out of the employer's database showing standard employment information like hire date, separation date, and conditions of separation) and concluded it…
Can a former Arkansas public employee block release of his personnel file under FOIA just by calling it a privacy invasion?
Not on a blanket objection alone. The AG reviewed the file and concluded most documents were personnel records that could be released, plus one record that was an employee-evaluation record whose rele…
Can the Arkansas State Police release the internal-affairs investigation file of a former recruit when the events are 15 years old?
No, in the AG's view. The records were employee-evaluation records that met three of the four required elements for disclosure (the employee was terminated, the termination was final, and the records …
Are records of police internal-affairs investigations that led to suspension of currently employed officers subject to release under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes, as a general matter. The AG opined that internal-affairs records of police officers are employee-evaluation records and must be released when the four statutory disclosure conditions are met, inc…
Is a Department of Correction custodian's decision to release certain redacted records about two former ADC employees consistent with the Arkansas FOIA?
The AG could not opine on the part of the request resting on an assumed fact, but reviewing the records found that one was a properly disclosed employee-evaluation record, three were audio recordings …
How did the Arkansas FOIA require redactions in a city police officer's personnel file released to the public, and what could a custodian properly withhold?
The AG concluded the Lowell Police Department was handling parts of the request correctly but parts wrong. Most attached records were 'personnel records' that had to be released, with mandatory redact…
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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.