News/Events

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced the arrest of a Pulaski County man for crimes involving children.

Justin Axelroth, 38, of Little Rock, was arrested by the Attorney General’s office Cyber Crimes Unit on 30 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, a Class C felony. He is currently being held on bond at the Pulaski County Detention Facility.

Special agents in the Attorney General’s office seized multiple computers, external hard drives and cell phones from the home. The file will be turned over to Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley when completed.

Says, ‘Treatsie customers will now be made whole’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Treatsie LLC of Little Rock have reached a settlement to resolve allegations that Treatsie continued to sell and advertise subscriptions for their gourmet candy boxes, but failed to deliver hundreds of the boxes, but in some cases, delivered the orders months late. The company also failed to refund subscription costs to customers who did not receive the goods they ordered.

“Treatsie customers will now be made whole with this settlement,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “The deceptive business practices of Treatsie and its owners brought financial losses to consumers. I am pleased the company is being held responsible for their bad business practices.”

The consent judgment, which was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, includes $154,644.70 in restitution to consumers, including $4,076.12 for 145 Arkansans. Treatsie will also pay $60,000 in civil penalties, with $50,000 in civil penalties suspended.

Rutledge filed a consumer-protection lawsuit against Treatsie in March. The Better Business Bureau began receiving complaints about the deceptive practices of Treatsie in winter 2015 and Treatsie closed its doors in 2017.

Says, ‘We must continue to fight federal overreach and protect our farmers from burdensome regulations’

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has joined 15 other state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting the Trump Administration’s withdrawal of the Obama-era 2017 Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Rule. The states argue in the brief that the Rule, adopted on the last day of the Obama Administration, was both illegal and economically unjustifiable.

“The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Rule is yet another example of the Obama Administration’s aggressive overreach and I applaud President Trump for removing this unnecessary regulation,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “We must continue to fight federal overreach and protect our farmers from burdensome regulations that only harm consumers by driving up food prices.”

The 1990 Organic Foods Production Act was intended to impose specific feed and medicinal production standards for “USDA certified organic” products. In sharp contrast, the 2017 Rule focused almost entirely on animal care and living conditions, imposing stringent requirements that poultry have access to outdoor soil in order to fall under the label of “USDA certified organic.” The brief argues that the Obama USDA did not have statutory authority to enact animal-welfare regulations about outdoor access under the guise of regulating organic foods.

Additionally, economic analysis demonstrates that this regulation would have been extremely harmful for small organic farmers and consumers. The high cost of complying with this rule would have likely driven many out of the organic farming business, leading to an estimated loss of $80-86 billion. Consumers would face rising costs for organic products and reduced choices for those products.

Led by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, Rutledge is joined on the brief by attorneys general from Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge applauds President Trump’s plan to lower prescription drug prices. The President announced a plan today to require Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to act in the best interest of patients and prohibits gag rules that prevent pharmacists from discussing contract terms and prices, among other actions.

“I am proud to see President Trump take action and combat the tremendous strain that prescription drug prices place on patients,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “The actions of PBMs and so-called gag rules prevent patients from receiving the best care and drug prices, harming all Arkansans. I welcome the Administration to the fight against these nefarious activities and look forward to finding a resolution that will benefit all Arkansans and Americans.”

Earlier this year, Attorney General Rutledge began reviewing reports that CVS Caremark drastically reduced its reimbursement rate for pharmacies in the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace. Local pharmacists are being forced to cover the additional costs of the rate changes, which impacts their bottom line and could lead to these businesses closing their doors. While the investigation currently focuses on the actions of CVS Caremark, the Attorney General will aggressively investigate any PBM that harms Arkansans and requests that any citizen harmed by these rate changes contact the office.