News/Events

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today calls on the General Assembly to fix the initiative (and referenda) process.

“Today, I call on the General Assembly to fix the process by which a citizen can place an initiative to amend the Arkansas Constitution on the election ballot. Citizens should know very early in the process whether the Arkansas Supreme Court approves of the language of their proposal, prior to their spending significant amounts of time and money collecting signatures and educating voters on the issue. I am dedicated to working with the General Assembly to create such a system and will continue looking out for the best interests of all Arkansans to ensure the process is clear and fair.

“Under current state law, I am required as Attorney General to review proposed initiatives to ensure they are not misleading. In determining whether a proposal is misleading, I must follow the very strict standard set forth by the Arkansas Supreme Court in the Lange and Wilson cases from 2016. These Supreme Court decisions require that it be clear to Arkansans what a ‘for’ or ‘against’ vote means.

“Only proposals that I am confident meet the Supreme Court’s stringent test are approved. After I approve the language, citizens must spend a great amount of time and money gathering the required number of signatures to have their proposal placed on the election ballot by the Secretary of State. At this point, opponents of the proposal can ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to strike it down. In its review the Court does not consider my initial approval of the proposal, but instead takes a completely new look at the language. Because such challenges occur very close to the election, proposals rejected by the Arkansas Supreme Court often still appear on the election ballot, adding further confusion for Arkansas voters.

“This is not the best process for Arkansans. Citizens who want to place an initiative on the ballot should not be required to get the language approved by both the Attorney General and the Arkansas Supreme Court. The process for citizens to have initiative language approved should have clear standards and deadlines. Therefore, I call on the General Assembly to create a system during the 2019 legislative session to ensure Arkansans have a clear and fair process to have an initiative to amend the State Constitution placed on the ballot.”

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.