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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Is a student complaint about a faculty member a personnel record (releasable) or an evaluation record (closed) under the Arkansas FOIA?
It depends on whether the student submitted the complaint on their own initiative or at the school's behest. An unsolicited complaint is a personnel record, generally releasable. A complaint solicited…
If a Fayetteville police lieutenant recorded my two-hour phone call about a citizen complaint and the city is withholding the audio as an 'employee evaluation,' is that legal under the Arkansas FOIA?
Probably partly. Without seeing the recording, the AG could not definitively rule, but the call sounds like a 'mixed record.' The portion not tied to investigating the citizen complaint is likely a pe…
When a corrections department employee's personnel file gets a FOIA request, are administrative records, promotion letters, and demotion letters all releasable, and how should email addresses and references' contact information be handled?
Mostly yes, with consistency fixes. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded that all the records the Arkansas Department of Corrections planned to release for employee Danielle Conner, administrative r…
When a community supervision officer's personnel file gets a FOIA request, can the employer release it with redactions, and can private-sector references' contact information be redacted along with everything else?
Mostly yes, with adjustments. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded the Arkansas Department of Corrections's decision to release Thelma Delancey's personnel records with redactions was largely consis…
When a public employee's personnel records get a FOIA request, can the employee block release by objecting to the requester's motives or what the requester might do with the records?
No. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded that under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, the requester's intent and motives are generally irrelevant to the custodian's release decision. Employee…
What can a city release when someone FOIAs the file of a recently fired employee, including the termination letter, internal emails, and a social worker's note?
Most of the file comes out, but not all. Routine grievance correspondence, supervisor statements, signed workplace policies, and similar documents are personnel records and must be released (with pers…
Are emails sent by a justice of the peace or other elected county official public records under Arkansas FOIA, who is the custodian, and how long must they be kept?
Yes, generally. Emails between elected officials acting in their official capacity (such as justices of the peace) are typically public records subject to FOIA, but each email must be evaluated case b…
Can a prosecutor's office release a 'Brady list' spreadsheet of officer misconduct, plus emails from law enforcement about Brady issues, to a FOIA requester?
Mostly yes, with care. The emails are personnel records and can come out (no clearly unwarranted privacy invasion). The Brady-list spreadsheets are evaluation records: officers who were suspended or t…
If a city or county gets a state report listing all businesses that remitted sales tax there, can a citizen FOIA that report? And can the city pass an ordinance keeping it secret?
No to both, but for different reasons. The list of businesses remitting sales and use tax is exempt from FOIA under the Tax Procedure Act's confidentiality clause for 'information pertaining to any ta…
Does an Arkansas city have to release records showing how much comp time its employees have accrued, and can a city council member make that FOIA request?
Yes to both. Comp time records are 'personnel records' under FOIA, similar to salary, sick leave, and vacation records, and they are presumptively releasable. The city must redact narrow personal info…
Can a police department release a FOIA-requested suspension report on three named officers when the officers themselves object?
Yes. Suspension reports that explain the basis for the suspension are employee-evaluation records. The four-part FOIA test is met here: the officers were suspended, the discipline is final, the report…
Can the Arkansas State Police release internal-affairs witness statements, transcripts of interviews, and personal emails from a state trooper's personnel file?
Most of it, yes. Witness statements and interview transcripts in an internal affairs file that resulted in suspension are evaluation records that must be released because the four-part FOIA test is me…
When Pulaski County releases a fired employee's file (termination form, incident report, screenshots of text messages), what redactions are required?
The text messages are personnel records (subject to release with privacy redactions). The termination form and incident report are evaluation records and require the four-part FOIA test (suspension/te…
When the Department of Corrections releases a corrections major's personnel file (timesheets, signed policies, PREA forms, employment records, training certificates), what redactions are required and which are improper?
Most of the custodian's redactions are correct, but two corrections are needed: (1) the employee's AASIS personnel number must be redacted from one Administrative Directive form where it is currently …
When Pulaski County releases HR complaint records (exit interviews, employee complaints, HR responses, harassment investigation forms), how do you classify each piece, and what are the release rules?
Mixed. Detailed exit interviews about a supervisor are evaluation records. Routine forwarding emails by HR (passing along an employee complaint) are personnel records. HR replies that just provide com…
When an employee files a Discrimination and Harassment Complaint form on a county template, is that an evaluation record (which can be withheld) or a personnel record (which must be released)?
It depends on whether the employer directed the employee to complete the form. If yes ('at the behest of the employer'), it is an evaluation record and stays confidential unless the subject of the com…
If I'm the subject of a Pulaski County FOIA request for a workplace complaint about me, what can the County actually release and what must it redact?
The County can release emails as personnel records with privacy-related redactions. It must withhold the discrimination/harassment complaint form against you so long as you have not been suspended or …
If my supervisor wrote a memo about a conversation we had and filed a discrimination/harassment complaint against my wishes, can the County release those records under FOIA?
No, not as 'personnel records.' The AG ruled that a memo created by your supervisor describing your work-environment complaints, plus a complaint form completed against your wishes, are employee-evalu…
I FOIA'd Pulaski County for complaints against employees. They redacted entire pages and lots of names. Are those redactions legal under Arkansas FOIA?
Mostly, yes. Whole-page redactions of evaluation records are required when the four-part test isn't met. Name redactions are case-by-case under the privacy balancing test, justified for things like me…
When a county employee files a complaint about a coworker or supervisor under the county's personnel policy, is that complaint a 'personnel record' (mostly disclosable) or an 'employee evaluation' (mostly sealed)?
It's a personnel record. The 'at the behest' test under A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(1) requires command or directive, a personnel policy that lets employees file complaints isn't a command. Reprimands and s…
I resigned in lieu of termination from a state job. Can my former employer release my voluntary separation form, resignation letter, and the email and memo about the events that led to my forced resignation?
Yes. The voluntary separation form and resignation letter are personnel records, releasable subject to redactions. The email and memorandum are evaluation records, but a forced resignation counts as '…
A school district got a FOIA request for all complaints about coaches over five years. Which emails are personnel records (releasable) and which are evaluation records (mostly withheld)?
Unsolicited emails from third parties (parents, community members) about coaches are personnel records and must be released, with redactions for things like personal contact information, dates of birt…
Are city civil-service commissioners' personal email addresses and personal phone numbers exempt from a FOIA request?
Yes, they are likely exempt, but not for the reason the city gave. The personal-contact-information exemption in A.C.A. § 25-19-105(b)(13) applies only to nonelected employees of state, municipal, sch…
Can a state agency withhold law-enforcement officer decertification records under FOIA before the Commission has voted on the decertification?
The three exemptions the Department of Public Safety might have reached for (undisclosed investigations, personnel records, and personal contact information) generally do not apply to CLEST decertific…
A sheriff's office wants to release an internal-investigation report about deputies meeting with a sheriff candidate while on duty. Can they?
No. The internal-investigation report is an employee-evaluation record because it was created by the sheriff's office to evaluate the deputies' on-the-job conduct. Employee-evaluation records can only…
A campus childcare center has video surveillance footage that ended up in a child-maltreatment investigation. Can the university release that footage in response to a FOIA request?
No, generally not. The Child Maltreatment Act exempts from FOIA any data, records, or documents concerning a child maltreatment investigation conducted by an authorized entity, including campus police…
I'm a journalist asking for state employee termination notices. Why won't the agency release them?
Because the termination notices stated the grounds for termination, they qualify as employee-evaluation records, which are subject to a strict four-element release test (suspension or termination, adm…
How does an Arkansas city sort through a police officer's complete personnel file for a FOIA release? Which records go out, which get redacted, and which stay confidential?
The Fayetteville custodian wanted to release everything with redactions, but the AG splits the file across nine categories: administrative records (mostly releasable as personnel records, with college…
A school district investigated an employee, the employee resigned, and now the district refuses to release the investigation files. Can they?
Maybe yes, maybe no. The AG offers a roadmap rather than a binary answer because he has not seen the records. Three categories: (1) unsolicited third-party complaints are personnel records subject to …
I asked Washington County for discipline records on two former employees and the custodian denied everything. Can the county hold all of that back?
Mostly no. The AG concluded the blanket denial is largely inconsistent with FOIA. The emails, three separation notices, and an investigation closure letter are personnel records that should be release…
I'm the same Conway officer in opinion 2025-089 and someone made a separate, broader FOIA request listing ten categories of records about me. The custodian gave me his planned answers for each category. Are they right?
Mostly OK, but several depend on classification calls the custodian must still make. Your personnel file (category 1) needs to be sorted document by document. Categories 2, 3, and 5 (incident records,…
Three coworker complaints have been filed against me, and now they're being released under FOIA. Aren't those internal investigation records? Can I block release?
No. The AG concluded that anonymous complaints filed by coworkers are personnel records, not evaluation records, because they were not created by or at the behest of the employer. They are not transfo…
I'm a Conway police officer. I was terminated, I'm appealing it to the Civil Service Commission, and the city wants to release a big stack of records about my case. Can they?
Mostly no on the records connected to your termination, but several other records can go out. Because your termination is on appeal to the Conway Civil Service Commission, your evaluation records (any…
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…
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 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 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 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…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Can the Arkansas AG review a FOIA decision to release a job application from someone who was never hired?
No. AG Tim Griffin's review power under A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i) is limited to personnel records and employee-evaluation or job-performance records. Application materials of someone who was neve…
Should a sheriff's office release the disciplinary file and resignation letter of a deputy who resigned in lieu of termination?
Yes, the records should be released. AG Tim Griffin agreed they are employee-evaluation records under FOIA, but found that the four-part release test is met: the deputy's resignation in lieu of termin…
Do Arkansas private schools have to follow open-records and open-meetings laws if they accept LEARNS Act voucher money?
No. Receiving Education Freedom Account funds under the LEARNS Act is not by itself enough to make a private school subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Two things must be true: the sch…
Can the Arkansas State Police release a state trooper's personnel and internal-affairs file in response to a FOIA request?
Mostly yes. Routine personnel records like hire dates, transfer forms, and pay records are releasable with privacy redactions. Disciplinary suspension letters, internal-affairs files, and the underlyi…
Can a public employee block release of her middle name from a personnel record under Arkansas FOIA?
No. Under Arkansas FOIA, the subject of a personnel record cannot block release of her middle name simply because she does not want it shared. The privacy test is objective. The employee's preference …
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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.