Did the Arkansas AG approve the popular name and ballot title for a constitutional amendment to make government transparency a citizen's right?

Plain-English summary

Robert Steinbuch asked the Arkansas AG to certify a popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment on government disclosure. The AG had reviewed an earlier version in Opinion No. 2024-007 that was identical except for its effective date. For this submission he substituted and certified both the popular name and the ballot title. The certified popular name is "The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2026." He expressly said certification did not reflect his view of the proposal's merits.

The substituted title describes a proposed right of Arkansas citizens to government transparency, defined as government's obligation to share or deliver information. It would generally require voter approval for a law concerning transparency, with specified two-thirds referral and nine-tenths emergency procedures. It would abrogate the state's sovereign immunity in transparency lawsuits and permit attorney's fees. It says the amendment would be effective November 4, 2026 if enacted.

The certified title also declares "all provisions of the Constitution, statutes, and common laws of this State" void to the extent they conflict with the proposed amendment. The AG did not decide how a future court would apply that clause to Arkansas FOIA or any specific law. A flat claim that the proposal could never displace existing FOIA rules is unsupported by the certified wording. Certification also does not establish that the amendment qualified for a ballot or became law.

What this means for you

Petition sponsors and canvassers

Use the certified popular name and substituted ballot title when relying on this opinion. The AG stated that instructions to canvassers and signers must precede every petition and that the instructions included with his opinion might be revised in 2025. The opinion certifies wording; it does not report later signature totals, ballot qualification, or election results.

Voters and transparency advocates

Read the certified title as a description of a proposal. It outlines both the transparency right and limits on how the legislature could make related laws. Its conflict clause could matter to existing constitutional and statutory rules where they are inconsistent with the amendment. The opinion does not identify which provisions, if any, would be affected after enactment.

Public agency counsel

The title's sovereign-immunity and conflict clauses are material to the proposal. It describes lawsuits concerning government transparency and attorney's fees, while saying conflicting law would be void only to the extent of inconsistency. The AG's certification is no ruling on a specific agency's duties under a future amendment.

Common questions

Did the AG approve the proposal's policy?
No. He said he was not authorized to consider the proposed measure's merits when certifying its popular name and ballot title.

Would the amendment automatically leave FOIA untouched?
The opinion does not support that assurance. The certified title would void constitutional provisions, statutes, and common law to the extent they conflict with the amendment. It does not analyze any specific FOIA provision or predict a court's application of the conflict clause.

What did the AG certify?
The substituted popular name "The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2026" and a substituted ballot title printed in the PDF. The title summarizes the proposal's transparency right, legislative voting procedures, sovereign-immunity waiver, conflict clause, severability, and proposed effective date.

Is November 4, 2026 an election result or a present effective date? No. It is the effective date stated in the proposed amendment. This 2024 opinion does not establish that voters later adopted it.

Did the AG explain each wording change?
No detailed comparison appears in this opinion. He noted his earlier review of a version identical except for effective date, then supplied the substituted name and title for this submission.

Legal basis in the opinion

The certified title says conflicting law would be "declared null and void to the extent they are inconsistent or in conflict with any provision of this Amendment." The AG states that his certification decision is "unrelated to my view of the proposed measure's merits." Those statements bound what the opinion decides: certification of a summary of a proposed amendment, not a ruling on the proposal's legal effect after enactment.

Source

• Official Arkansas Attorney General opinion search: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/ (Opinion No. 2024-070, July 18, 2024; official three-page PDF)

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2024-070

July 18, 2024

Robert Steinbuch
Via email only: [email protected]

Dear Mr. Steinbuch:

I am writing in response to your request, made under A.C.A. § 7-9-107, that I certify the popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment. In Attorney General Opinion 2024-007, I reviewed the text, popular name, and ballot title of a proposed measure that was identical, except for the effective date, to your proposed text, popular name, and ballot title. There, I certified the popular name as submitted and substituted and certified a ballot title.

My decision to certify or reject a popular name and ballot title is unrelated to my view of the proposed measure’s merits. I am not authorized to consider the measure’s merits when considering certification.

1. Request. Under A.C.A. § 7-9-107, you have asked me to certify the following popular name
   and ballot title for a proposed initiated amendment to the Arkansas Constitution:
   Popular Name

                   The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment
   
                                        Ballot Title
   

   An Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution to Create the “Arkansas Government
   Disclosure Amendment”;

   Establishing Government’s Obligation to Share Information With and Deliver
   Information to Citizens as a Right;

   Prohibiting the General Assembly From Making a Law Concerning Government’s
   Obligation to Share Information With and Deliver Information to Citizens Without
   Approval of the People, But Allowing a Two Thirds Majority of the General
   Assembly to Refer That Law to the People to Be Approved or Rejected at the Next
   General Election;
   Robert Steinbuch
   Opinion No. 2024-070
   Page 2

   Permitting the General Assembly, by a Nine Tenths Vote and in the Case of An
   Emergency, to Make a Referred Law Take Immediate Effect Until Approved or
   Rejected at the Next General Election;

   Clarifying That Any Act Referred Under this Amendment is Not a Referred
   Constitutional Amendment Under Article 12, Section 22 of the Arkansas
   Constitution;

   Prohibiting the General Assembly From Referring Future Amendments to the
   Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment to the People Under Article 12,
   Section 22;

   Preserving the People’s Power to Amend the Arkansas Government Disclosure
   Amendment Under Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution;

   Empowering Arkansas Citizens to Sue the State of Arkansas in Court and Recover
   Damages and Attorney’s Fees for Government’s Failure to Comply with the
   Requirements of Arkansas Law Concerning Government Openness and Disclosure;

   Clarifying That This Amendment does not Alter the Constitutional Powers of the
   State Supreme Court;

   Clarifying That This Amendment Does Not Alter the Constitutional Powers of the
   General Assembly to Determine the Rules That Affect the Openness of State
   Legislative Meetings;

   Declaring That All Provisions of the Constitution, Statutes, and Common Law of
   This State To the Extent Inconsistent Or In Conflict With Any Provision of This
   Amendment Are Expressly Declared Null and Void;

   Providing That The Provisions of This Amendment Are Severable; And

   Stating That the Amendment Becomes Effective on November 4, 2026.

2. Rules governing my review. In Attorney General Opinion 2023-123, which I issued in response
   to a previous request for review and certification of a similar proposed measure, I explained the relevant law governing my review of popular names and ballot titles. Rather than repeat that explanation, I incorporate it here by reference.

3. Application. Having reviewed the text of your proposed measure, as well as your proposed
   popular name and ballot title, I substitute and certify the following popular name and ballot title for your proposed measure: Robert Steinbuch Opinion No. 2024-070 Page 3

                                     Popular Name
   
                  The Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment of 2026
   
                                       Ballot Title
   

   An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution providing that government
   transparency is a right of Arkansas citizens; defining “government transparency”
   as the government’s obligation to share information with citizens or to deliver
   information to citizens; prohibiting the General Assembly from making a law
   concerning government transparency without approval by a vote of the people, but
   allowing a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly to refer such a law to the
   people to be approved or rejected at the next general election; permitting the
   General Assembly, by a nine-tenths vote and in the case of an emergency, to make
   a law concerning government transparency take immediate effect until approved or
   rejected by a vote of the people at the next general election; clarifying that any act
   the General Assembly refers to the people under this Amendment is not a referred
   constitutional amendment under article 19, section 22 of the Arkansas Constitution;
   prohibiting the General Assembly from amending this Amendment by referring an
   amendment to the people under article 19, section 22 of the Arkansas Constitution;
   clarifying that the people of Arkansas may exercise their authority under article 5,
   section 1 to amend this Amendment or an Arkansas statute concerning government
   transparency; abrogating the sovereign immunity of the State of Arkansas in
   lawsuits concerning government transparency and allowing plaintiffs to recover
   attorney’s fees in such suits; clarifying that this Amendment does not alter the
   constitutional powers of the State Supreme Court; clarifying that this Amendment
   does not alter the constitutional powers of the General Assembly to determine the
   rules that affect the openness of state legislative meetings; declaring that all
   provisions of the Constitution, statutes, and common laws of this State are declared
   null and void to the extent they are inconsistent or in conflict with any provision of
   this Amendment; declaring that this Amendment’s provisions are severable; and
   stating that this Amendment is effective November 4, 2026.

Under A.C.A. § 7-98-108, instructions to canvassers and signers must precede every petition, informing them of the privileges granted by the Arkansas Constitution and the associated penalties for violations. I have included a copy of the instructions that should be incorporated into your petition before circulation. Please note, however, that these instructions may be revised in 2025 to incorporate any relevant legislative changes.

Deputy Attorney General Noah P. Watson prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve. Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General