Can I get an Arkansas State Police incident report or dashcam video that shows a juvenile who was stopped, arrested, or just a passenger?
Plain-English summary
The Arkansas Department of Public Safety asked how two statutes interact with FOIA when ASP troopers create records that involve juveniles. The AG separated the question into two scenarios.
Arrested or detained juveniles. When a trooper arrests or detains a juvenile, A.C.A. § 9-27-309(j) requires the records of that arrest or detention to be withheld from FOIA. That includes incident reports and dashcam video tied to the encounter. The fact that no juvenile court case has been opened yet does not change the analysis: the statute reaches arrests and detentions, not just charged proceedings. Records can be released only if (a) a juvenile-division court order authorizes release, (b) the juvenile is being formally charged in the criminal division for a felony arising from the arrest, or (c) some other narrow exception under § 9-27-309 or § 9-27-320 applies.
Juveniles who appear in records but were not arrested or detained. A different statute, A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i), comes into play. That statute requires accident reports to redact the names and addresses of minor occupants of a vehicle involved in the accident, unless the requester is a parent, legal guardian, legal custodian, or an insurance representative for someone in the accident. But § 27-53-202 does not turn into a blanket exemption for every juvenile who happens to appear in a police report or dashcam video. The Arkansas Supreme Court has consistently said FOIA exemptions must be read narrowly. Only the specific data elements (names, addresses, in accident reports) get redacted; the rest of the record remains releasable subject to other applicable exemptions.
What this means for you
FOIA requesters and news media
If the dashcam or report involves a juvenile who was arrested or detained, expect a denial. To pry the record loose, you generally need either a juvenile-division court order or to show that the juvenile is being charged as an adult for a felony from the same incident. Approach the juvenile division of the appropriate circuit court if you believe release would serve the public interest.
If the juvenile is just a passenger or bystander and the record is an accident report, the agency must release the report but redact the minor's name and address. You should still get the substantive content of the report. If the agency redacts more than the statute allows ("the whole report involves a minor, so it's all out"), that is overreach.
Records custodians at ASP and other police agencies
For arrest or detention records, withhold by default. Document the basis for the withholding (cite § 9-27-309(j)) and identify which subset of the record falls within it. If part of the record is an accident report, separately apply § 27-53-202 redactions for any minor occupants.
For accident reports involving minor occupants who were not arrested or detained, do not withhold the entire report. Redact name and address per § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) and release the rest. Do not extend that redaction rule to dashcam or general police reports that are not accident reports.
Parents, legal guardians, and custodians of minors
You sit in a special category under § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i): the redaction rule does not apply to you. If your child was a passenger in an accident, you can request the unredacted report.
Civil and criminal defense attorneys
When a juvenile arrest or detention is exempt from FOIA, you may still obtain access through discovery in a related case or a juvenile-division court order. The exemption is from FOIA, not from court process.
Common questions
My kid was arrested last month, then released without charges. Is the police report public?
No. § 9-27-309(j) exempts records of the arrest itself, not just charges that follow. The fact that no proceeding was filed does not enable the record. Without a juvenile-division court order or one of the other narrow exceptions, the record stays sealed.
A reporter asked for dashcam video of a high-profile traffic stop where a juvenile was detained. Can the police release it?
Not under FOIA. The video is part of the detention record and § 9-27-309(j) applies. The reporter would need a juvenile-division court order, or the juvenile would need to be charged as an adult with a felony from that stop.
My family was in an accident. There were minor passengers in the other vehicle. Can I get the accident report?
Yes, but the names and addresses of the other vehicle's minor occupants must be redacted. You will get the report, just with that data scrubbed unless you fall into one of the special-relationship categories.
A juvenile is shown briefly in a dashcam clip, but they were not the subject of the stop. Is the whole video confidential?
No. § 27-53-202 only covers names and addresses of minor occupants in accident reports, and § 9-27-309(j) only covers records of an arrest or detention. A juvenile passively appearing in unrelated dashcam footage does not trigger either statute. The video is releasable subject to other applicable FOIA rules (privacy of nonparties, ongoing investigation, etc.).
Does the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) come into play here?
No. FERPA covers education records held by schools. This opinion is about police records held by ASP. Different statutes, different analysis.
Background and statutory framework
A.C.A. § 9-27-309 is the confidentiality statute for juvenile records. Subsection (j) lists four categories of exempt records: arrest records, detention records, records of proceedings under the Juvenile Code, and adult-investigation records that relate to offenses committed when the suspect was a juvenile. The presumption is non-disclosure; release requires a specific authorization in the statute or a juvenile-division court order.
The opinion notes the historical context: the General Assembly originally passed A.C.A. § 9-27-352 to expand confidentiality after the Arkansas Supreme Court held that a juvenile's name was protected from media release only after a court proceeding had been formally opened. Act 956 of 2009 repealed § 9-27-352 but moved much of its language (including the arrest and detention protections) into § 9-27-309. So the current § 9-27-309(j) reaches juveniles whose cases never get filed, not just those in formal proceedings.
A.C.A. § 27-53-202 is the accident-report statute. Subdivision (b)(2)(B)(i) requires redaction of minor occupants' names and addresses unless the requester is an insurance representative for someone involved or a parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian of the minor. The Arkansas Supreme Court reads FOIA exemptions narrowly. Cases the AG cites for this principle: Johninson v. Stodola, 316 Ark. 423, 872 S.W.2d 374 (1994); Young v. Rice, 308 Ark. 593, 826 S.W.2d 252 (1992); Hengel v. City of Pine Bluff, 307 Ark. 457, 821 S.W.2d 761 (1991). All three are Arkansas Supreme Court decisions; the reporter is South Western Reporter, signaling state court.
Citations
- A.C.A. § 9-27-309(j) (juvenile arrest, detention, proceeding, and adult-investigation records exempt from FOIA)
- A.C.A. § 9-27-320 (juvenile fingerprinting and photograph rules; sharing limited)
- A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) (redaction of minor occupant names and addresses in accident reports)
- A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(ii) (redaction procedure)
- Johninson v. Stodola, 316 Ark. 423, 425, 872 S.W.2d 374, 375 (1994)
- Young v. Rice, 308 Ark. 593, 596, 826 S.W.2d 252, 254 (1992)
- Hengel v. City of Pine Bluff, 307 Ark. 457, 463–64, 821 S.W.2d 761, 764–65 (1991)
Source
Original opinion text
Opinion No. 2023-072
November 6, 2023
Colonel Mike A. Hagar, Secretary
Arkansas Department of Public Safety
1 State Police Plaza Drive
Little Rock, Arkansas 72209
Dear Colonel Hagar:
I am writing in response to your request for my opinion on whether the Arkansas
Department of Public Safety's policy regarding the release of juvenile records is consistent
with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), A.C.A. § 9-27-309, and A.C.A.
§ 27-53-202. You state that your office receives FOIA requests for incident reports and
dashcam video that depict juveniles who are stopped or arrested by Arkansas State Police
troopers, as well as requests for records that may include juveniles who are not the subject
of a traffic stop or arrest.
You have asked two questions, which I have paraphrased below:
1. When a juvenile has been arrested or detained by an Arkansas State Police trooper,
but not yet been made the subject of a juvenile proceeding, does A.C.A.
§ 9-27-309(j) require that records of the arrest or detention, including incident
reports and dashcam video, be withheld from release in response to a FOIA request?
Brief answer: Yes, unless one of the exceptions allowing release of the records
applies.
2. Does A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) require that records of juveniles who are not
arrested, detained, or otherwise made the subject of a traffic stop be withheld from
release in response to a FOIA request? These records would include the images,
names, and addresses of minor occupants of vehicles.
Brief answer: No, A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) only requires that the names
and addresses of minor occupants of a vehicle involved in an
accident be redacted from copies of the accident report unless the
requester has a certain relationship to the minor occupant.
DISCUSSION
Question 1: When a juvenile has been arrested or detained by an Arkansas State Police
trooper, but not yet been made the subject of a juvenile proceeding, does A.C.A.
§ 9-27-309(j) require that records of the arrest or detention, including incident reports
and dashcam video, be withheld from release in response to a FOIA request?
The statute you ask about, A.C.A. § 9-27-309, governs the confidentiality of juvenile
records. Subsection 9-27-309(j) lists four types of juvenile records that are exempt from
disclosure in response to a FOIA request unless ones of the listed exceptions applies. These
four types of records are:
- Records of the arrest of a juvenile;
- Records of the detention of a juvenile;
- Records of proceedings "under this subchapter"; and
- Records of an investigation that conducted when the alleged offender is an adult
and relates to an offense that occurred when the alleged offender was a juvenile.
These types of records must be withheld from release unless at least one of the following
conditions have been met:
- A written order of the juvenile division of circuit court has authorized the records'
release;
- The juvenile has been or is being formally charged in the criminal division of circuit
court for a felony resulting from the arrest or proceedings; or
- The records' release is otherwise allowed under A.C.A. § 9-27-309 or A.C.A.
§ 9-27-320.
Therefore, the answer to your first question is a qualified "yes." If a juvenile has been
arrested or detained, records of the arrest or detention, which may include incident reports
and video footage, must be withheld in response to a FOIA request. Whether the juvenile
has also been made the subject of a proceeding is irrelevant because all four types of records
are exempt from disclosure. The records may be released only if one or more of the above-
listed exceptions applies.
Question 2: Does A.C.A. § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) require that records of juveniles who
are not arrested, detained, or otherwise made the subject of a traffic stop be withheld
from release in response to a FOIA request? These records would include the images,
names, and addresses of minor occupants of vehicles.
The statute you ask about, A.C.A. § 27-53-202, pertains to accident reports. Subdivision
27-53-202(b)(2) requires that accident reports include the names and addresses of all
passengers occupying the vehicle at the time of the accident, including minor occupants.
But the statute prohibits the release of minor occupants' names and addresses unless the
requestor is a representative of an insurance company that insures a person involved in the
accident or is the parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian of the minor occupant. If the
requester is not one of these individuals, the minor occupant's name and address must be
redacted from the records before their release.
Thus, to the extent you are asking about juveniles who are occupants of a vehicle involved
in an accident, their names and addresses should be redacted from accident reports unless
the requester is one of the above-named individuals. But § 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) does not
act as a broad directive to withhold the images and information of all minor individuals
who may appear in police reports or dashcam videos from release in response to a FOIA
request. The Arkansas Supreme Court has consistently held that exemptions to the FOIA's
disclosure requirements must be narrowly construed. Consequently, A.C.A.
§ 27-53-202(b)(2)(B)(i) should not be interpreted as exempting the names, addresses, and
images of all juveniles from disclosure.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Summerside prepared this opinion, which I
hereby approve.
Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General