Question: Does Arkansas Code Annotated § 12-12-1711 require, permit, or prohibit Adult Protective Services from interviewing family caregivers and Powers of Attorney during financial exploitation investigations involving adults with dementia, memory loss, or severe cognitive impairment?
Brief Response: Arkansas Code § 12-12-1711 permits Adult Protective Services (APS) to interview family caregivers and agents under powers of attorney when they have relevant information. It does not prohibit those interviews, nor does it require them in every case. But APS must conduct a thorough investigation, so the facts in a particular case may make an interview necessary.
Question: Is the custodian’s decision to release the requested records with redactions consistent with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
Brief Response: In my opinion, the custodian’s decision to release the records as redacted is consistent with the FOIA. The records at issue are properly classified as personnel records, and the custodian has correctly determined that they are subject to release with redactions.
Question 1: May a private probation vendor legally collect and retain supervision fees from criminal defendants under color of judicial authority when it fails to comply with the mandatory monthly accounting and reporting requirements of A.C.A. § 16-17-127(f)?
Brief Response: Arkansas Code § 16-17-127 imposes a mandatory reporting obligation, and a contractor that fails to comply with that obligation is operating contrary to the statute. Although that statute does not expressly provide that noncompliance invalidates the contractor’s fee-collection authority, fees collected during a period of noncompliance may be legally vulnerable and subject to challenge.
Question 2: Does a private probation vendor have legal authority to enforce conditions or collect fees from probationers in a district court when operating under an expired municipal contract?
Brief Response: No. Once the municipal contract expires, the vendor’s authority to act expires as well. There is no independent statutory grant of authority allowing a private company to provide these services absent a contract.
Question 3: What remedy or relief is available to court defendants who were required to pay private probation fees under court order during periods of noncompliance with statutory reporting and contract requirements?
Brief Response: Two potential legal remedies that someone may seek are filing a lawsuit on the bond for damages or filing an illegal exaction lawsuit. Because both remedies are fact-intensive, I cannot definitely conclude whether either cause of action exists in any specific case. I provide the general standards for those legal remedies in this opinion.
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