Griffin: ‘A few bad actors are giving the solar industry in Arkansas a bad name, and I felt it necessary to inform the industry of their legal obligations, particularly under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act’

LITTLE ROCK – After issuing an advisory to solar energy sales and installation companies across the state, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement:

“A few bad actors are giving the solar industry in Arkansas a bad name, and I felt it necessary to inform the industry of their legal obligations, particularly under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“The advisory I sent today warns against engaging in deceptive trade practices, which includes such things as predatory sales tactics; delivering false information regarding tax rebates, credits and government-funded grants; and installing systems improperly or contrary to specifications in contracts, or not installing them at all.”

The Office of the Attorney General is tasked with enforcing the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Arkansas Home Solicitation Sales Act. Violations of these laws can lead to a judgment for civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation of either law occurring within the preceding five years, as well as injunctive relieve to prohibit further unlawful business conduct. Those fines are doubled when the consumer involved is 60 years old or older or is disabled.

To read the advisory that was sent to solar companies operating in Arkansas, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

###