Registration is now open for the 2026 Fraud and Consumer Protection Summit. Click here to register.
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VietnameseRegistration 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.
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 requested records consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: The custodian’s decision to release the job applications of current employees is consistent with the FOIA. But before release of such records, the custodian must redact the City of Lowell employees’ marital status, family information, and personal contact information, including personal phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses. As for the job applications of unsuccessful candidates or candidates who have been offered but have not accepted, I lack authority under A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(3)(B)(i) to review the custodian’s decision because those documents are neither personnel records nor employee-evaluation or job-performance records.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to release certain records, with redactions, as personnel records and to withhold other records as employee-evaluation records consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: The custodian’s decisions are only partially consistent with the FOIA. The custodian properly classified the officers’ personnel records, but additional redactions are required as explained in the opinion. The custodian also properly classified and withheld Officer Motsinger’s evaluation records because they did not result in his suspension or termination. As to Officer Burgess, the custodian must determine whether his resignation constituted a constructive termination and, if so, whether the remaining elements of the statutory test are satisfied. Finally, the Missouri Department of Revenue Report is not an employee-evaluation or job-performance record because it was not created by or at the behest of the employer. Rather, it is a personnel record that should be released subject to any necessary redactions.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to withhold the employee-evaluation records requested records consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: Because I have not reviewed all the records at issue, I cannot definitively state whether the custodian has correctly classified the withheld records as employee-evaluation records. However, if the records are employee-evaluation records and the employee was not suspended or terminated, then the custodian’s decision to withhold those records is consistent with the FOIA. The records that I reviewed have been properly classified as personnel records that are subject to release with redactions. Accordingly, as discussed in the opinion, the custodian’s decision to release the records with redactions is mostly consistent with the FOIA.
