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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Can an Arkansas county force employees to resign or take unpaid leave when they file to run for elected office?
No. Under A.C.A. § 21-1-207, no public employer may strip a state, county, municipal, or school employee of the right to run for elective office. The Ashley County 'resign-to-run' personnel policy…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject 'The Campaign Finance and Lobbying Act of 2014' ballot title?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected Regnat Populus's combined campaign-finance, lobbyist cooling-off, and gift-ban initiative because Section 4's call for a U.S. constitutional amendment misstated federal…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 'Ban the Prohibition of Cannabis' ballot title?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected the popular name 'Ban the Prohibition of Cannabis' and its ballot title because the underlying measure failed to say it was a constitutional amendment, contained…
Can an Arkansas ambulance service decline Trauma System grants and avoid rules that may take it outside its local coverage area?
An ambulance service need not apply for a Trauma System grant, but the AG noted that proposed rules would require all licensed ambulance services to follow trauma triage guidelines once effective.…
After Arkansas Act 595 of 2013, what happens if an absentee voter doesn't include valid ID with the ballot?
An absentee voter subject to the identification requirement could not use the in-person provisional-ballot cure after omitting ID. The attached Opinion 2014-012 separately notes provisional absentee…
What services must an Arkansas city actually provide to land it has annexed, and what can landowners do if the city doesn't deliver?
The 'services' a city owes annexed landowners are whatever services are described in the annexation ordinance itself, not the broader laundry list defined for other purposes in A.C.A. § 14-40-2002.…
What counts as an 'immediate family member' for purposes of Arkansas county ethics rules on conflicts of interest?
A.C.A. § 14-14-1202(a)(3) doesn't define the term, but a court would likely borrow from A.C.A. § 21-8-304 (a parallel ethics statute). A family relationship by itself usually doesn't violate the…
Can an Arkansas absentee voter who forgot to include ID with their ballot fix it after election day?
No, for an absentee voter subject to Act 595’s identification requirement who omitted the required document. The in-person provisional-ballot cure did not apply; the opinion separately notes…
How should a Little Rock custodian handle a FOIA request for officers' personnel files and photographs if the department employs undercover officers?
The AG had not seen the records and could not decide individual disclosures. He explained the personnel-record privacy balance and redactions. For photographs, he said withholding only undercover…
Can an Arkansas misdemeanor election conviction become a felony and bar someone from elected office?
Yes, if the conviction is for an election-law crime the AG classified as infamous, including a misdemeanor whose elements require deceit. The opinion says a judge must then adjudge the person guilty…
Could Arkansas adopt a California-style top-two primary, or otherwise force political parties to nominate by convention or accept all comers?
The AG said a top-two primary would be highly suspect under Arkansas Amendment 29. For the separate open-general-election proposal, the state likely could require parties to nominate by convention,…
Can a Conway court clerk who paid into the city's non-uniformed pension switch to APERS and still draw pension benefits for the prior 20 years?
Probably yes. Joining APERS in a new court clerk position doesn't by itself disqualify the employee from the City of Conway non-uniformed pension benefits for prior deputy court clerk service. The…
Does an Arkansas firefighter who finished DROP at one city receive LOPFI service credit for continued compensated volunteer work at another city?
The AG said the firefighter was likely entitled to credit for all his service at the second department, assuming he met the other credit requirements. The AG read 'participating municipality' in the…
What ambiguities kept Arkansas's 'Ban Prohibition of Cannabis' amendment title from certification in Opinion 2014-004?
The AG rejected the title because the proposed amendment did not clearly say what could be taxed, what 'administration of this amendment' meant, how taxation fit with a ban on laws restricting…
Can an Arkansas school district pay to improve city-owned ballfields in exchange for school use?
The AG could not decide the proposed agreement's legality without a court's review of the facts. Spending on city-owned fields is not barred as a matter of law; a court would ask whether the school…
Could the Arkansas AG decide whether releasing a former officer's internal-affairs file would prejudice his pending criminal trial?
No. The attorney did not dispute the custodian's FOIA analysis or redactions; his sole objection was that release would prejudice a pending trial. The AG said his review was limited to specified…
Can an Arkansas school district withhold an employee's entire personnel file under FOIA?
The AG said a blanket denial of the file was inconsistent with FOIA. The custodian must classify the records and apply the relevant disclosure test: personnel records receive privacy balancing,…
Why won't the Arkansas AG approve a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval for any tax, fine, or fee increase?
Because the proposal as written was too ambiguous. It didn't define which 'taxes, fines, or fees' it covered (Verizon Arena ticket prices? Improvement district assessments?), which voters had to…
Can an Arkansas school district donate a former school building to a city or nonprofit when it may still be tied to bond debt?
Possibly. Act 318 of 2013 authorized donations of surplus school property to cities and nonprofits, but the AG said a court might require an educational benefit to district students and questioned…
How does an Arkansas water district amend the joint agreement that created it under the Interlocal Cooperation Act?
The Arkansas AG must review and approve the amendment for form and consistency with state law (A.C.A. § 25-20-104(f)). If the AG does not act within 60 days, the amendment is deemed approved by…
Can I record an Arkansas police officer on duty, and where can I report an officer's suspected misconduct?
The AG said only a finder of fact could decide whether recording an officer was protected in a particular case; a citizen has no right to obstruct governmental functions. A complaint about a…
Could Texarkana use A&P tax revenue for a bond swap, private convention center and water park payments, or tax rebates to those facilities?
The AG could not decide whether any of the four arrangements was lawful without more facts. For the bond swap, he examined whether the A&P money effectively paid bonds, funded permitted city uses…
What does it take to get a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment legalizing cannabis through the AG's ballot title certification?
Not just a clear stance. The AG rejected a 2014 cannabis amendment because the proposal cited 'the Arkansas Gross Receipts Tax Laws of 1941,' a chapter that does not exist under that name; the…
In Arkansas, can a quorum court member also sit on the board of a nonprofit that gives grants to a county-owned animal shelter?
The AG found no bar to simultaneous service on the quorum court and this private nonprofit board. He did not answer the recusal question or decide whether the nonprofit could legally demand…
What did the Arkansas minimum wage increase ballot initiative actually propose, and why was it certified without changes?
The Attorney General certified the popular name and ballot title exactly as submitted, based on this opinion, for an initiated act that would raise Arkansas's minimum wage in three steps: from $6.25…
What does the Arkansas Attorney General have to check before approving a multi-county agreement to run a shared library system?
The Attorney General approved the agreement as submitted, based on this opinion, after confirming it specified all the items Arkansas's Interlocal Cooperation Act requires for a joint government…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the proposed 'Ban Prohibition of Cannabis' ballot title?
The AG rejected this submission because Section 3 referred to a 'Constitution Tax Law' that he could not identify. Without knowing what that tax phrase meant, he could not fairly summarize the…
Does the same ballot-naming gap from Arkansas AG Opinion 2013-067 apply to House Joint Resolution 1009?
Yes, based on this opinion. The Attorney General applied the same conclusion reached in Opinion 2013-067 (regarding SJR 7) to House Joint Resolution 1009: the Attorney General no longer has…
Does the same ballot-naming gap from Arkansas AG Opinion 2013-067 apply to a different legislative constitutional amendment, SJR 16?
Yes, based on this opinion. The Attorney General applied the same conclusion reached in Opinion 2013-067 (regarding SJR 7) to Senate Joint Resolution 16: the Attorney General no longer has authority…
Who is responsible for naming a legislature-proposed constitutional amendment on the Arkansas ballot after a 2013 law took that job away from the Attorney General?
The Attorney General no longer has that authority, based on this opinion. A 2013 law change removed the Attorney General's statutory duty to prepare a popular name for constitutional amendments…
Can a state agency release an employee's termination letter to a FOIA requester if the letter explains the reasons for firing?
Yes, based on this opinion. Because the employee's termination letter recounted the reasons for the firing (not just the bare fact of termination), it qualified as an 'employee evaluation or job…
Can an Arkansas dairy that's certified to sell inspected Grade A milk also sell unpasteurized raw milk under the state's farm raw-milk law?
Probably not, based on this opinion. Although the 2013 law allowing incidental farm sales of unpasteurized whole milk doesn't specifically address Grade A dairies, its required point-of-sale notice…
Does Arkansas's automatic 3% cost-of-living raise for elected county officers apply to justices of the peace?
No, based on this opinion. Justices of the peace are classified by statute as 'township officers,' not 'elected county officers,' so the law requiring an automatic 3% annual cost-of-living increase…
Can a city's hotel and restaurant tax pay for referees and equipment at a school basketball tournament held in a public gym?
Probably yes for both, based on this opinion, though the answer is fact-dependent. An advertising and promotion (A&P) commission likely may spend hotel-and-restaurant tax revenue to pay tournament…
Can a county quorum court redirect money from the treasurer's commission fund to another department without the treasurer's consent?
The Attorney General declined to answer, based on this opinion. Whether a quorum court's transfer of money from the county treasurer's commission fund to the IT department counts as an authorized…
Can a police department release an officer's name and job title to a FOIA requester, even if the officer objects?
Yes, based on this opinion. A public employee's name and job position are personnel records under Arkansas's FOIA, and releasing them almost never counts as a clearly unwarranted invasion of…
Can a water utility be forced to shut off a customer's water over an unpaid sewer bill from a different city's sewer department?
Yes, based on this opinion. The Paragould Light & Water Commission, which supplies water to residents of Oak Grove Heights who get separate sewer service from that city, is a 'corresponding water…
Can a sheriff's office release internal investigation records that led to officer firings and forced resignations under Arkansas's FOIA?
Partly resolved, based on this opinion. The Washington County Sheriff's internal investigation records properly counted as 'employee evaluation or job performance records,' and releasing the…
Why did Arkansas's Attorney General reject a proposed ballot measure to repeal all state cannabis laws?
The Attorney General rejected the proposed measure, based on this opinion, because its text described what repealing cannabis laws 'would' do rather than actually enacting a repeal, and because its…
Can the head of Arkansas's environmental agency single-handedly freeze or halt animal feeding operation permit applications?
No, based on this opinion. Only the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, a separate rulemaking body, has statutory authority to declare a moratorium on or suspend the processing of a…
Who prosecutes misdemeanors, traffic tickets, and city ordinance violations in an Arkansas city, the prosecuting attorney or the city attorney?
The city attorney bears the default responsibility, based on this opinion. A prosecuting attorney may choose to take on misdemeanor violations of state law that occur within a city's limits, but…
Does an Arkansas improvement district keep its property-tax exemption on lots that owners just signed over by quitclaim deed instead of losing them to foreclosure?
It's genuinely unsettled, according to this opinion. Arkansas courts have held that improvement district property obtained through court-ordered foreclosure for unpaid assessments is tax-exempt…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General rewrite, rather than reject, the ballot title for a 2013 initiative to repeal the state's marriage amendment?
The Attorney General certified a revised popular name and ballot title, based on this opinion, for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have repealed Arkansas's Amendment 83 (the state's…
Can a city release employee names, resumes, job titles, and salaries in response to an Arkansas FOIA request?
Generally yes, based on the prior opinions referenced here. Although the Attorney General declined to rule on this specific city's request due to a procedural timing problem, the office pointed to…
Did the revised 2013 Arkansas same-sex marriage amendment fix its ballot title problem?
No, not fully. Jennifer Pierce revised her earlier proposal (Opinion 2013-122) to address a gap the AG had flagged in Amendment 83, adding a line that 'Arkansas law shall recognize all marriages…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the ballot measure stripping limited liability from corporations that spend on elections?
The AG rejected it on several grounds. First, the submitted ballot title ended in an ellipsis and skipped whole sections, so it did not summarize the measure and he could not rewrite it 'out of…
Does an Arkansas prosecutor have to be physically present every time a court accepts a guilty plea?
No, in the AG's view. Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 24.3(d) bars a court from accepting a guilty or no-contest plea unless the prosecutor was given an 'opportunity to be heard,' but it does…
How does an Arkansas second-class city fill a council vacancy, and what are the rules on quorums and city funds?
The Attorney General answered a set of questions about second-class city government. A city cannot change the statutory rules for filling a council vacancy; doing so takes a majority of the…
Can an Arkansas public school charge students fees or fines, and can it block enrollment for not paying?
The AG concluded that Arkansas' constitutional guarantee of free public schools bars any fee that would deny a child equal access to education, so tuition and registration fees for the standard…
Does an Arkansas volunteer fire department have to fight fires outside its coverage area for a neighboring city?
No. The Attorney General concluded that no Arkansas law requires a volunteer fire department to fight fires outside its coverage area unless it has agreed to. The rule runs both ways: neither a city…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the Marriage Amendment ballot title over its effect on Amendment 83?
The AG rejected it. Jennifer Pierce's proposed 'Arkansas Marriage Amendment' would have defined marriage as a union of two persons regardless of gender, and its ballot title said the measure…
Why couldn't a 2013 Arkansas ballot measure allowing same-sex marriage get its ballot title certified?
The AG rejected it. He explained he only checks whether a ballot title fairly summarizes a measure, not whether same-sex marriage is good policy. He could neither certify nor fix this title because…
Did the Arkansas Attorney General approve the ballot title for the 2013 medical marijuana initiative?
Mostly yes. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel found the popular name, 'The Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act,' sufficient as submitted, but concluded the sponsor's proposed ballot title needed work.…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 'Ban Prohibition of Cannabis' ballot title?
The AG rejected it. He explained that under A.C.A. § 7-9-107 he only checks whether a ballot title fairly summarizes a measure, not whether the measure is a good idea. He could not certify this one…
When did Arkansas's automatic increase in the charter-school cap take effect?
At the beginning of the next application cycle, not during the current cycle. The AG read the annual cap memorandum and the statute's amendment history as fixing the number available for each cycle.
Could the Arkansas Lottery show draw results on retailer monitors and market games as keno or bingo?
Showing draw results on retailer monitors was generally permissible. A game's title alone did not decide whether it was authorized, drawing frequency was for Lottery Commission rules, and a state…
Are unsolicited complaints about Arkansas public employees subject to release under FOIA?
They may be. The AG treated unsolicited complaints as personnel records and said the custodian had to balance any more-than-minimal privacy interest against the public interest, with disclosure favored.
Did the Arkansas AG approve the ballot title to repeal the state's marriage amendment?
Yes, with revisions. The AG approved the popular name as submitted and rewrote the ballot title to explain Amendment 83, the continued statutory ban then in place, and the legislature's restored…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the corporate election-spending ballot measure?
The proposal both tried to prohibit corporate election spending and called for a federal amendment authorizing such a ban, creating an internal conflict. Other wording also misstated court holdings…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2013 Marriage Equality Amendment ballot title?
The AG rejected it because the ballot title did not explain how the proposal would change existing law and the amendment's own text contained ambiguities that prevented an accurate summary.
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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.