Can Arkansas executive branch agencies release names, departments, and positions of employees who got merit raises?

Plain-English summary

The Department of Transformation and Shared Services received a FOIA request for five fields concerning executive-branch employees who received fiscal year 2023 merit raises: business area, department name, employee name, position title, and grade. The custodian decided to release them and asked the Attorney General to review that decision. The AG agreed the requested information is a personnel record that must be released.

Footnote 1 explains that release of basic employment information does not rise to a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. It cites Attorney General Opinions 2023-001, 2011-044, and 2007-070. The request and opinion do not address each employee's salary or the dollar amount of a merit raise.

What this means for you

Records custodians and requesters

The opinion approves disclosure of the five named fields for the group identified in the request. It does not decide whether a different set of compensation records or information explaining the reasons for individual raises must be released.

Common questions

Which fields did the AG approve for release?
Business area, department name, employee name, position title, and grade for executive-branch employees who received fiscal year 2023 merit raises.

Did the opinion decide whether to release raise amounts? No. No salary or raise-amount field was in the request the AG described.

Why was release allowed?
The AG said this type of basic employment information is a personnel record that must be released. Footnote 1 states its release is not a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Background and statutory framework

The custodian requested review under A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i). The opinion applies the FOIA personnel-records standard to the identified basic employment fields and cites three prior AG opinions in footnote 1.

Citations

• A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i)
• Arkansas Attorney General Opinions 2023-001, 2011-044, and 2007-070

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2023-062

July 17, 2023
Shannon Halijan
TSS Chief Legal Counsel
Department of Transformation and Shared Services
501 Woodlane Street, Suite 203
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Dear Ms. Halijan:
You have requested my opinion regarding the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Your request, which is made as the custodian of the records, is based on A.C.A.
§ 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i). The FOIA authorizes the custodian, requester, or the subject of certain employee-related records to seek an opinion from this office stating whether the custodian’s decision regarding the release of such records is consistent with the FOIA. You report that your office received a FOIA request seeking the following information for all executive-branch employees who received a merit raise for fiscal year 2023: (1) business area, (2) department name, (3) employee name, (4) position title, and (5) grade. You have decided that this information is a personnel record that must be released, and you have for my review of your decision. This office has consistently opined that the type of information requested here qualifies as a personnel record that must be released upon request. Therefore, your decision is consistent with the FOIA. 1 Assistant Attorney General Jodie Keener prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve. Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General

1
The release of basic employment information does not rise to the level of a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. See Ark. Att’y Gen. Ops. 2023-001, 2011-044, 2007-070.