Exemptions to the Open Records law in Arkansas include the following:

 

25-19-105. Examination and copying of public records.

 

(a)(1)(A) Except as otherwise specifically provided by this section or by laws specifically enacted to provide otherwise, all public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the regular business hours of the custodian of the records.

(B)(i) However, access to inspect and copy public records of the Department of Correction and the Department of Community Correction shall be denied to:

(a) A person who at the time of the request has pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of a felony and is incarcerated in a correctional facility; and

(b) The representative of a person under subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i)(a) of this section unless the representative is the person's attorney who is requesting information that is subject to disclosure under this section.

 

(ii) Access to inspect and copy public records of the Department of Correction and the Department of Community Correction shall be denied to a person under subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i)(a) of this section regardless of whether the records are in the possession of the Department of Correction, the Department of Community Correction, or another agency of the state.

 

(2)(A) A citizen may make a request to the custodian to inspect, copy, or receive copies of public records.

 

(B) The request may be made in person, by telephone, by mail, by facsimile transmission, by electronic mail, or by other electronic means provided by the custodian.

 

(C) The request shall be sufficiently specific to enable the custodian to locate the records with reasonable effort.

 

(3) If the person to whom the request is directed is not the custodian of the records, the person shall so notify the requester and identify the custodian, if known to or readily ascertainable by the person.

 

(b) It is the specific intent of this section that the following shall not be deemed to be made open to the public under the provisions of this chapter:

 

(1) State income tax records;

 

(2) Medical records, adoption records, and education records as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, unless their disclosure is consistent with the provisions of that act;

 

(3) The site files and records maintained by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the Arkansas Archeological Survey;

 

(4) Grand jury minutes;

 

(5) Unpublished drafts of judicial or quasi-judicial opinions and decisions;

 

(6) Undisclosed investigations by law enforcement agencies of suspected criminal activity;

 

(7) Unpublished memoranda, working papers, and correspondence of the Governor, members of the General Assembly, Supreme Court Justices, Court of Appeals Judges, and the Attorney General;

 

(8) Documents that are protected from disclosure by order or rule of court;

 

(9)(A) Files that if disclosed would give advantage to competitors or bidders and records maintained by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission related to any business entity's planning, site location, expansion, operations, or product development and marketing, unless approval for release of those records is granted by the business entity.

 

(B) However, this exemption shall not be applicable to any records of expenditures or grants made or administered by the commission and otherwise disclosable under the provisions of this chapter;

 

(10)(A) The identities of law enforcement officers currently working undercover with their agencies and identified in the Arkansas Minimum Standards Office as undercover officers.

 

(B) Records of the number of undercover officers and agency lists are not exempt from this chapter;

 

(11) Records containing measures, procedures, instructions, or related data used to cause a computer or a computer system or network, including telecommunication networks or applications thereon, to perform security functions, including, but not limited to, passwords, personal identification numbers, transaction authorization mechanisms, and other means of preventing access to computers, computer systems or networks, or any data residing therein;

 

(12) Personnel records to the extent that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

 

(13) Home addresses of nonelected state employees, nonelected municipal employees, and nonelected county employees contained in employer records, except that the custodian of the records shall verify an employee's city or county of residence or address on record upon request;

 

(14) Materials, information, examinations, and answers to examinations utilized by boards and commissions for purposes of testing applicants for licensure by state boards or commissions;

 

(15) Military service discharge records or DD Form 214, the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty of the United States Department of Defense, filed with the county recorder as provided under § 14-2-102, for veterans discharged from service less than seventy (70) years from the current date; and

 

(16)(A) Records, including analyses, investigations, studies, reports, recommendations, requests for proposals, drawings, diagrams, blueprints, and plans, containing information relating to security for any public water system.

 

(B) The records shall include:

 

(i) Risk and vulnerability assessments;

 

(ii) Plans and proposals for preventing and mitigating security risks;

 

(iii) Emergency response and recovery records;

 

(iv) Security plans and procedures; and

 

(v) Any other records containing information that if disclosed might jeopardize or compromise efforts to secure and protect the public water system.

 

(C) This subdivision (b)(16) shall expire on July 1, 2007.

 

15-4-3203. Amendment 82 project qualification.

 

(3)(A) The department shall also forward the letter of commitment, the findings and recommendations of the the department, the authority, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and all supporting documentation to the Office of Economic and Tax Policy of the Bureau of Legislative Research on behalf of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

(B)(i) At the direction of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the office shall arrange for an independent confirmation of the economic impact and cost-benefit analysis performed by the department or an independent economic impact and cost-benefit analysis of the proposed project to be completed within twenty (20) working days after the receipt of the letter of commitment.

 

(ii) All information forwarded to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the department and any resulting information related to the confirmation of the department's economic impact and cost-benefit analysis or independent economic impact and cost-benefit analysis:

(a) Shall be considered working papers of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives under § 25-19-105(b)(7) and shall not be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas; and

(b) Is specifically exempt from the requirements of § 25-19-105(a).

 

15-4-3206. Compliance time period - Audit requirements.

 

(a) The Amendment 82 agreement shall specify a time period in which the sponsor must comply with the investment and job creation thresholds specified in the Amendment 82 agreement. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the time period shall not exceed four (4) years from the date of enactment of related legislation under § 15-4-3203(j). In the event that the sponsor does not comply with the applicable time period, then the penalty provisions set forth in the Amendment 82 agreement and enacted in related legislation under § 15-4-3203(j) shall apply.

(b)(1) The sponsor may request a one-year extension of the time period specified in the Amendment 82 agreement by submitting to the Director of the Department of Economic Development a written request with an explanation as to why the extension is necessary. The request shall be submitted at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the time period specified in the Amendment 82 agreement.

 

(2) Upon receipt of a request to extend the applicable time period, the director shall immediately notify the President of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, and the Governor. The director, the president, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may approve a request for a one-year extension upon a determination that there is a valid economic reason for granting the extension.

 

(3) The sponsor shall not be granted more than three (3) one-year extensions of the applicable time period.

 

(c)(1) The sponsor shall maintain and make available records pertaining to investment and job creation requirements for annual audit by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State and upon request by no more often than annually, by the Office of Economic and Tax Policy of the Bureau of Legislative Research or a person or entity retained by the office.

 

(2) The Arkansas Tax Procedure Act, § 26-18-101 et seq., shall apply to records maintained under this subsection and any audits conducted of the records, including any audit conducted through the office.

 

(3)(A) Records obtained or reviewed by the office under this section:

 

(i) Shall be considered working papers of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives under § 25-19-105(b)(7) and shall not be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas; and

 

(ii) Are specifically exempt from the requirements of § 25-19-105(a).

 

(B) However, a report of the audit shall be presented to the Legislative Council with respect to the status of the applicable qualified Amendment 82 project which details the sponsor's compliance with the provisions of the Amendment 82 agreement.

 

15-4-3222. Release of information.

 

(a)(1) Except as otherwise required to be disclosed under this subchapter, all information of the type identified in § 25-19-105(b)(9)(A) and related to a proposed project or a qualified Amendment 82 project that is provided to, compiled by or for, or developed by or for the Department of Economic Development, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, a local entity, the Governor, or the Office of Economic and Tax Policy of the Bureau of Legislative Research in furtherance of their powers, duties, and obligations under this subchapter is awarded the privileges and entitled to the exclusions set forth in subsection (b) of this section.

(2) Subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall not apply to information that is:

 

(A) Generated, compiled, or developed by a local entity that is not an agency or instrumentality of the state;

 

(B) Noncompetitive and nonproprietary; and

 

(C) Not provided to the department under its powers, duties, and obligations set forth in this subchapter.

 

(b) The information described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is not open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas and is specifically exempt from the requirements of § 25-19-105(a) regardless of whether such information is in the custody of the department, the authority, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, a local entity, or the Governor.

 

23-92-413. Nondisclosure of proprietary information.

 

(a)(1) Professional employer organizations and professional employer organization groups are required under this subchapter to file with the Insurance Commissioner certain proprietary material, including financial records and financial information and client lists, the disclosure of which would give advantage to competitors.

(2)(A) The commissioner shall not consider proprietary material under this subchapter to be subject to mandatory disclosure under § 25-19-105(b)(9)(A).

 

(B) If litigation or any other proceedings are instituted to compel disclosure, the total expense of the proceedings shall be paid by the professional employer organization or professional employer organization group whose proprietary material is being sought.

 

(C) The commissioner shall give notice in writing to any professional employer organization or professional employer organization group whose client lists or other material that the commissioner deems to be proprietary are being sought under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25-19-101 et seq.

 

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section or any other law governing disclosure of confidential information, the commissioner, the Director of the Arkansas Employment Security Department, and the Workers' Compensation Commission may exchange information among themselves for the purposes of regulating professional employer organizations.

 

24-4-1003. Benefit provisions - Inspection of records.

 

All records kept by an Arkansas public retirement system, whether required to be kept by law or board policy, shall be open to public inspection as provided in § 25-19-105, except that individual member's records which are kept for the purpose of compiling information for the member's retirement or social security records shall not be open to the public.