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 inmate files a civil suit and the court waives the filing fee under in forma pauperis, does the Department of Corrections still owe the county a reimbursement for that fee?
No. Under A.C.A. § 12-27-115, the Department of Corrections must reimburse counties only for expenses they actually 'incurred' from inmate legal proceedings. When an inmate is granted in forma pauperi…
Can an Arkansas state representative or senator simultaneously serve on a city, county, or regional library board?
No. Article 5, § 10 of the Arkansas Constitution bars a sitting member of the General Assembly from being elected or appointed to any 'civil office' during the term for which the legislator was electe…
Did the Arkansas AG certify the Couch/Standerfer 'Arkansas Government Transparency Amendment' for the 2024 ballot?
Rejected. The AG declined to certify the first version of the Couch/Standerfer 'Arkansas Government Transparency Amendment' because key terms ('government transparency,' 'public record,' 'public meeti…
Did the Arkansas AG certify Dinwiddie's third attempt at a ballot title for an initiated act lowering the antique-vehicle registration age from 45 to 25 years?
Rejected. Dinwiddie's third version of his initiated act to allow 25-year-old vehicles (down from 45) to register as antique still had unresolved drafting defects: a misused enacting clause followed b…
Under Arkansas FOIA, can a city withhold a letter notifying a police officer of his administrative reassignment pending an internal investigation?
No. The letter notifying a police officer of his administrative reassignment pending an internal investigation is a personnel record, not an employee evaluation, because it documents an administrative…
Can an Arkansas city, county, or private business legally use automatic license plate readers (ALPRs)?
Arkansas law generally prohibits automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). Local governments may use them only for specific purposes (law-enforcement database checks, parking enforcement, controlling a…
Did the Arkansas AG certify the Lancaster proposed constitutional amendment that would have rewritten absentee-voting rules and banned wireless voting?
Rejected. The AG declined to certify Clinton Lancaster's proposed Absentee Voting and Anti-Wireless-Voting Amendment because of multiple ambiguities in the amendment text. The biggest problems: an ena…
Did the Arkansas AG certify Lancaster's proposed Hand-Marked Paper Ballots constitutional amendment?
Rejected. The AG declined to certify Clinton Lancaster's Hand-Marked Paper Ballots Amendment because of multiple contradictions and ambiguities: an enacting clause used inappropriately for an amendmen…
Did the Arkansas AG certify the 'Reproductive Healthcare Amendment' for the 2024 ballot?
Rejected. The AG declined to certify Steven Nichols's proposed Arkansas Reproductive Healthcare Amendment because of multiple ambiguities: unclear 'access to abortion' language, undefined 'health,' an…
Can a city redact a former police officer's records with whiteout, and can it withhold his termination letter and administrative-leave letter under FOIA?
Mostly inconsistent with FOIA. The Bay City Attorney's decisions to disclose some records and redact identifiers (SSN, DOB, DLN) were correct, but two records he withheld are personnel records that mu…
Can the Arkansas Department of Education force the Pine Bluff School District (or any state-controlled district) to sell or lease unused buildings to a charter or private school?
ADE's Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation can declare a facility 'unused or underutilized,' subject to district appeal. While a district is in Level 5, Intensive support a…
Did the AG opine on what local-government powers remain over digital asset mining under Arkansas's Data Centers Act?
Declined. The AG declined to opine on six questions about how the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 affects local zoning authority, sound regulation, and what counts as an electric utility's 'transmis…
Can an Arkansas city or county ban cryptocurrency or digital asset mining operations within its borders?
No. Under the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 (A.C.A. §§ 14-1-601 to 14-1-605), cities and counties cannot pass ordinances banning new digital asset mining operations. They can enforce general opera…
Can the Washington County Quorum Court require the county clerk to publish ordinances, resolutions, and contracts on the county website?
Yes. Under Ark. Const. amend. 55 § 1(a) and A.C.A. § 14-14-902(a)(3)(C), the county clerk is the default secretary of the quorum court and must perform additional duties the quorum court assigns by or…
Is a retired Arkansas mayor's pension calculated using the salary he earned as mayor, or the salary the current mayor earns when he starts collecting?
The retired mayor's salary at the end of his last term as mayor is the basis for calculating his retirement benefit, regardless of when he begins receiving payments. Although the codified statute appe…
Is the Arkansas statute that conditions property tax exemption for school-leased property on a no-profit showing constitutional?
Yes. A.C.A. § 6-21-118, which conditions the property tax exemption for property leased to public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools on the lessor proving the lease is not gen…
Can a city withhold a former police officer's entire personnel file because his termination was 'unrelated to acts that gave rise to a suspension or termination'?
No. A records custodian cannot withhold an entire former police officer's personnel file based on the conclusion that his termination was 'unrelated' to disciplinary acts. The FOIA requires the custod…
Can an Arkansas state agency moderate or block users on its official social media accounts without violating the First Amendment?
Mostly yes for content moderation. Under the First Amendment, ARDOT may limit, remove, or moderate public comments on the interactive parts of its official social media accounts (which are likely 'lim…
Can the AG certify a ballot title when the proposed initiated act is written as a narrative explanation rather than as legislation?
Rejected. The revised text included an enacting clause but used it before a narrative description and partial statute quotations, leaving the AG unable to determine what was actually being enacted. Sp…
Can an Arkansas city require homeowners to hook up to private water, sewer, gas, or electric service?
Probably no. Arkansas's heavy state-level regulation of utility service areas (by the Public Service Commission, Department of Health, Natural Resources Division, and others) preempts most local manda…
Can I get an Arkansas State Police incident report or dashcam video that shows a juvenile who was stopped, arrested, or just a passenger?
If the juvenile was arrested or detained, all records of that arrest or detention (incident reports, dashcam) must be withheld unless an exception applies. If the juvenile was only a passenger or byst…
Do Arkansas alternative-instruction (virtual learning) days count toward the 178-day in-person threshold the LEARNS Act requires for the $50,000 minimum teacher salary?
Yes, Arkansas public schools still have authority to use up to 10 Commissioner-approved alternative-method-of-instruction (AMI) days, including virtual learning days, when closed for emergencies. But …
Can a police officer block disclosure of his disciplinary records under FOIA because he believes the requester will use them in an unrelated proceeding?
No. A records subject's objection to release based on what they believe the requester will do with the records is not a basis for withholding under Arkansas FOIA. The requester's intent and motives ar…
What does the Arkansas AG look for when reviewing a popular name and ballot title for a citizen-initiated act?
Rejected. The submitted ballot title was identical to the popular name and made no attempt to summarize the measure's text. The proposed measure also lacked the constitutionally required enacting clau…
Can an Arkansas city lease its property to a private business below fair market value, and does that violate the constitution?
Yes, an Arkansas city may lease city-owned property at below-market rates as long as the lease is supported by adequate consideration. Consideration is not limited to money; non-financial public benef…
When does a country road in Arkansas become a public road, and what can a landowner do if someone blocks it?
A county road can be created in only three ways: donation/dedication followed by a properly recorded order, condemnation with payment, or designation by order of a mail/school-bus/courthouse route. Me…
In Arkansas, who actually decides where new county roads go: the county judge or the quorum court?
Both. The quorum court (the legislative branch of county government) has authority to plan county roads, including adopting an official road plan for the unincorporated parts of the county. The county…
Can the same person serve as mayor of an Arkansas town and also represent criminal defendants (including as a public defender) in nearby courts?
Yes. Arkansas's dual-office-holding prohibitions (constitutional, statutory, and common-law) do not bar a sitting mayor from simultaneously representing private clients in criminal cases or serving as…
Does an Arkansas behavioral-health nonprofit need a real-estate license to manage its own residential properties?
Probably yes for state law. Birch Tree Communities (a statewide nonprofit behavioral-health provider) appears to qualify for two real-estate license exemptions: (1) the residential-property-management…
Can an Arkansas school district refuse to release records about an employee's administrative leave under FOIA?
It depends on whether the leave was disciplinary or non-disciplinary. If non-disciplinary (a routine policy-based suspension while something is investigated), the employee-evaluation exemption does no…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the ballot title for an initiated act exempting feminine hygiene products and diapers from sales tax?
Approved with substitution. The popular name 'An Act to Exempt Feminine Hygiene Products and Diapers from Sales and Use Tax' was certified as submitted. The AG substituted a more suitable ballot title…
Can my Arkansas city zone or limit where vape shops can open?
Yes. An Arkansas city, county, or municipality can use its police power to limit, regulate, zone, or restrict a vape shop within its jurisdiction. Three limits apply: (1) the regulation cannot conflic…
Can an Arkansas school district add 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' as protected classes in its anti-discrimination policy?
No. A school district policy that lists sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes violates Act 137 of 2015 (codified at A.C.A. § 14-1-401 et seq.), which prohibits political subdivis…
In a city-administrator form of Arkansas government, can the mayor veto a motion that already failed?
No. A mayor in a city-administrator form of government has the veto power over decisions made by the board of directors, but a motion that fails for lack of a majority vote is not a 'decision' of the …
Does a 1998 conviction for sexual abuse trigger Arkansas's 'no parole' rule for someone who committed aggravated robbery in 2014, after the older offense was struck from the violent-felony list?
No. Parole eligibility is determined by the law in effect when the new crime was committed. By 2014 the General Assembly (Act 827 of 2007) had removed sexual abuse in the first degree from the list of…
When do Arkansas laws passed without an emergency clause take effect after a special legislative session?
December 14, 2023. Acts of the 2023 First Extraordinary Session that passed without an emergency clause or other specified effective date become effective on December 14, 2023, the day after the 90-da…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject a proposed ballot title for an initiated act exempting feminine hygiene products from sales tax?
Rejected. The text of the proposed initiated act was ambiguous about whether Arkansas would remain in compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, a multi-state compact requiring unifo…
Can a university release an employee's discrimination complaint while withholding the outcome letter from FOIA?
Partly. The retaliation complaint is a mixed personnel record and was correctly released under the personnel-records balancing test. The outcome letter is also a mixed record: an evaluation of the com…
Should a city redact a public employee's net pay (after withholdings) from FOIA-released payment records?
Yes. Net salary payments must be redacted before release. Net pay reveals deductions that touch personal financial information (tax withholdings, retirement contributions, insurance elections, banking…
Can a city in Arkansas use prepared-food sales tax revenue for police salaries instead of tourism promotion?
No general public-safety funding. Arkansas prepared-food sales tax proceeds are statutorily restricted to promoting tourism and conventions (advertising the city, convention center operations, parks, …
Can an Arkansas excavator start digging if utilities haven't responded through One Call within the legal time frame?
No. Under the Arkansas Underground Facilities Damages Prevention Act, an excavator cannot dig until ALL operators have responded through the One Call Center's electronic positive response system. Ther…
Can an Arkansas school district donate land to a nonprofit for affordable teacher housing?
Yes, likely. Bentonville School District's proposal to donate nine acres of district-owned land to Excellerate Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) for affordable teacher and community housing plus a co…
Is a list of suspensions and disciplinary actions against Arkansas State Troopers a personnel record or an employee-evaluation record?
The classification was wrong. A list of Arkansas State Troopers showing names, suspension grounds, and disciplinary details is an employee-evaluation record (not a personnel record), because it contai…
When designing a school storm shelter in Arkansas, do you use the building code's occupant load formula or the Department of Education's class size rules?
The 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code (incorporating IBC 2021) controls. Occupant load uses 20 net square feet per person for educational classrooms (giving ~42 people in an 850 sq ft classroom). The…
Are Arkansas billboards advertising recreational marijuana from neighboring states legal?
The AG declined to answer. Pending litigation in Pulaski County Circuit Court (Good Day Farm Arkansas, LLC v. State of Arkansas, No. 60CV-22-931) directly bears on the question. The AG's long-standing…
Can a city redact allegations from a non-disciplinary administrative suspension letter and withhold investigator notes about a resigned employee?
Partially. The administrative suspension letter (which expressly states the suspension is non-disciplinary and pending investigation) is a personnel record, not an evaluation record. The personnel-rec…
Can an Arkansas FOIA custodian use whiteout to redact, and is redacting an entire driver's license image proper?
The custodian's release of the personnel file was partially consistent with FOIA. The whiteout redaction method is wrong (FOIA requires the redaction to show where and how much was deleted, which usua…
Are workplace harassment complaint forms and exit questionnaires personnel records or evaluation records under Arkansas FOIA?
The custodian's release decision was only partly consistent with FOIA. Discrimination/harassment complaint forms are mixed records: evaluation records of the accused (must be withheld absent suspensio…
Does Arkansas's funding of party primaries change the constitutional analysis of closed primaries that exclude non-members?
State funding of party primaries does not change the constitutional analysis. A political party can still set its own rules for who may vote in its primary, and the use of public money to administer a…
In an Arkansas city administrator city, can the mayor's veto force a measure the board never passed, or unilaterally authorize spending?
A mayor in a city administrator form of government cannot use a veto to overturn a measure the board of directors never passed (the measure is already a nullity), and cannot authorize municipal spendi…
Can a former employee block release of her Arkansas personnel file by saying she does not know the requester's motive?
No. The requester's identity and motive are irrelevant under Arkansas FOIA. The subject of personnel records cannot block disclosure simply because she does not know who requested the file or what the…
Can a former Arkansas deputy block release of his 2014 misconduct investigation records nine years after termination?
The custodian's decision to release the records is consistent with FOIA. Investigative records of police misconduct meet the four-part test for evaluation records: the deputy was terminated, the termi…
Is a Camden suspension letter that doesn't list the grounds a personnel record that must be disclosed under FOIA?
Yes. The City of Camden's decision to release a former employee's suspension letter is consistent with FOIA. A suspension letter that does not recite the grounds for the suspension is a personnel reco…
Can an Arkansas county judge stop a citizen from reading aloud from a contested book at a quorum court meeting?
The AG could not give a yes-or-no answer because the legality depends on facts a court would have to assess. A county quorum court meeting is a 'limited designated public forum' where the government c…
Are Arkansas House Rule 108 and Senate Rule 6.0(2) banning campaign contributions during legislative session unconstitutional?
Yes. Both rules are unconstitutional under the First Amendment because they are not narrowly tailored to prevent quid pro quo corruption: they are overinclusive (banning small donations and self-fundi…
Can the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission order Cabot to stop using its alluvial aquifer wells, and what's the legal basis?
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission did not order Cabot to stop drawing groundwater under the Groundwater Protection Act. The Commission acted under its Arkansas Water Plan authority, conditiona…
Can Arkansas executive branch agencies release names, departments, and positions of employees who got merit raises?
Yes. The list of executive-branch employees who received merit raises (with business area, department, name, position title, and grade) is basic employment information that qualifies as personnel reco…
Will the Arkansas AG interpret a county ordinance and a court settlement to answer a sales-tax question?
The AG declined to answer. Whether Carroll County can use excess sales-tax revenue from Ordinance 2000-39 to expand the sheriff's office, build a new courthouse, or take other capital action without a…
Can an Arkansas political party hold a closed primary by party rule alone, and add candidate qualifications?
Yes, a political party can hold a closed primary in Arkansas without new legislation, using the existing voter-registration party-affiliation field. Whether a party can also add its own candidate qual…
Should the Arkansas Department of Corrections recalculate parole eligibility for prisoners after Act 683 of 2023 narrowed which residential burglaries count as violent felonies?
Yes, starting August 1, 2023, ADC should recalculate parole-eligibility dates for any offender affected by Act 683 of 2023. The act narrows which residential burglaries count as 'violent felony offens…
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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.