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...ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS...
FOI copying fees, improvement district taxes, juveniles in jail, and early voting AG OPINION NO. 2010-169
nized the difference between the actual use of the property and the use of the income”.
Te Attorney General made clear that un- der the Freedom of Information Act a county assessor or public official may not charge citizens of Arkansas for access and copies to public records on a website maintained by the assessor and not charge county residents. Te plan of the custodian to eliminate the fee based solely on whether the persons making the request are in-county residents is incon- sistent with the Freedom of Information Act.
AG OPNION NO. 2010-159 Te question arose as to whether Chero-
kee Village Improvement District improperly paid property taxes which were assessed in error? ACA 26-35-901 allows for recovery of property taxes paid which were “erroneously assessed” if the error is reflected on the face of the tax books and related records. County courts have jurisdiction over granting refunds under ACA 26-35-901 for instances of error in assessment upon “satisfactory proof being adduced to the county court”. Te Attorney General concluded that leg-
islative clarification is warranted to determine what records may be adduced to establish an error in assessment. Te Attorney General also noted that the
assertion that land held by the improvement district following foreclosure were ipso facto (in fact) classified as held for public purposes and exempt.
Citing the case of Robinson v.
Indiana & Ark Lumber, 128 Ark. 550 (1917) in which it was held that: “Tere is a material difference between the use of property exclu- sively for public purposes and renting it out and applying the proceeds therefrom to the public use. Te property under our Constitu- tion must be actually occupied or made use of for a public purpose and our court has recog-
COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2011
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 2010-004 Juveniles determined by a court to be part
of a “family in need of services” (“FINS”) may be ordered to be detained in a juvenile deten- tion facility and the court order may direct that the FINS juvenile be detained apart from juveniles charged or adjudicated to be delin- quents. When so ordered, it is not necessary that the FINS juveniles be so separated that they cannot hear or see delinquent juveniles. In contrast, ACA 9-27-336 provides that
juveniles alleged to have committed delin- quent acts may be held in an adult jail or lock-up provided they are separated by sight and sound from adults who are pretrial de- tainees or convicted persons. ACA 9-27-336 also provides that FINS juveniles detained for violating a court order may not be held in adult facilities. It stands to reason and the law does not state or mean that FINS juveniles held separate must be separated by sight and sound by delinquent juveniles.
AG OPNION NO. 2011-010
ACA 14-14-1202(c) was amended in 2005 to make explicit that a person may not si- multaneously serve as a member of the city council and the quorum court. In the event, a person is elected to both positions and simul- taneously serving in both offices, the remedy is removal from office under circuit court pro- ceeding in accordance with subsection (d) of ACA 14-14-1202
AG OPNION NO. 2011-004
Medical providers in Arkansas are under duty to provide a release upon satisfaction
13 Opinions
of the underly- ing obligation. However, the At- torney General notes that there is no obligation under ACA 18-46-114 to have the lien release recorded. It appears that the current law does not direct the lienholder to assure the lien release is re- corded. Also, the recording fee is owed by the party, if any, that submits the lien release for recording.
AG OPNION NO. 2011-054
ACA 6-14-106 provides that the annual school elections must be held within the dis- trict. However, ACA 7-5-418 which addresses early voting does not expressly impose any such requirement, but states that early vot- ing shall be conducted in the same manner as voting on election day. Te Attorney General agreed that the Washington County Election Commission was correct in their decision to not conduct a special election in Rogers and Bentonville because those offices are not lo- cated within the Springdale School District. While the law is not explicit, the General said the law and common sense support the conclusion that early voting or special elec- tions for schools should be conducted in the district. Te General further noted that nonetheless
so long as there was not a requirement that all early voting be conducted outside, some vot- ing outside the district will likely survive chal- lenge in court.
Mark Whitmore AAC Chief Counsel
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