Registration is now open for the 2026 Fraud and Consumer Protection Summit. Click here to register.
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Registration is now open for the 2026 Fraud and Consumer Protection Summit. Click here to register.
Registration is now open for the 2026 Fraud and Consumer Protection Summit. Click here to register.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to release the personnel records with redactions and to withhold the employee-evaluation or job-performance records consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: In my opinion, the custodian’s decision is partially consistent with the FOIA. The custodian has properly redacted certain exempt information from the employee’s personnel records, including driver’s license number, date of birth, Social Security number, employee identification number, passport number, personal phone number, home address, personal email address, financial and bank account information, medical information, and certain family information. However, additional redactions are required for information concerning family members and dependents; tax withholdings, deductions, and exemptions; health, dental, and vision insurance coverage; and the contingent beneficiary. In addition, the employee’s academic transcript is exempt from release. The custodian has improperly redacted information regarding the employee’s race. It is also unclear why the custodian redacted the employee’s work phone number, certain information in the “comments” section, and information concerning special skills or training for emergencies. As for the custodian’s decision to withhold the evaluation records, I have neither reviewed those records nor been provided with information sufficient to determine whether the statutory test for disclosure has been met. Accordingly, I express no opinion on the custodian’s decision to withhold them. However, in the opinion, I set forth the applicable test for release of evaluation records and discuss how that test may apply to the circumstances described in this request.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to withhold the requested records consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: The custodian must first determine whether each withheld complaint was solicited or unsolicited and then apply the appropriate test for disclosure. An unsolicited complaint submitted on the complainant’s own initiative is a personnel record and is subject to the balancing test for personnel records. If, however, the employer solicited the complaint or statement to evaluate the employee, and the record details the employee’s performance or lack of performance on the job, it may qualify as an employee-evaluation or job-performance record. If so, the record is not subject to disclosure unless the four-part test is satisfied.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to withhold from a wildlife officer the recording of the officer’s investigative interview consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
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Brief Response: The FOIA specifically authorizes a public employee to gain access to his or her own personnel records and employee evaluations. While I have not been provided with a copy of the recording and therefore cannot definitively opine on its contents, the information provided suggests that the recording is the officer’s own evaluation record. Therefore, the custodian’s decision to withhold it is likely inconsistent with the FOIA. To the extent the recording is a mixed record, the custodian may need to segregate information pertaining to other employees and apply the appropriate test for disclosure to that information.
