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AG Opinions: From equipment leases to bonus compensation
AG OPINION NO. 2016-074 The Attorney General answered a frequently asked question: “Does a county have to bid to lease equipment under ACA § 14-22-101 or otherwise?” Answer: No. The AG made clear that a simple equipment rental or lease (whereby the county does not acquire an ownership interest) does not require a bid. The AG stated that the law was very clear and unambiguous. It is unlawful for a county to make purchases in excess of $20,000 unless the methods described under the county purchasing law are followed unless there is an exception under ACA § 14-22-106. A “purchase” is defined as not only an outright purchase of a commodity, but also the acquisition of a commodity under a rental-purchase agreement, a lease-purchase agreement or any other agreements where the county has the option to buy a commodity and apply the rental payments to the purchase price. The AG concluded that true leases are not subject to the formal county bidding process. This conclusion is drawn from the explicit language and definitions of the statutes. AG OPINION NO. 2016-068 The AG determined that ACA § 1218-104 prohibits the release of the entire record in a child maltreatment case under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The AG further determined that prohibition also extends to other agencies, like sheriffs’ and local law enforcement agencies not explicitly listed under ACA § 12-18-104. The AG
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AG Opinions
noted that the sheriffs’ offices and local law enforcement agencies are included under the provision as “other agencies” that investigate crimes and conduct child maltreatment investigations. The FOIA exempts from disclosure of public records afforded exemption under other statutory provisions. The AG says the exemption extends to these protected investigative records even if filed with circuit clerk.
peace are paid on the basis of per diem compensation and a bonus or lump sum payment for justices of the peace is not permitted under the law.
AG OPINION NO. 2016-072 The AG determined that Amendment 55 allows for the quorum court to appropriate a bonus or lump sum payment to county employees and officials. Amendment 55 expressly provides a county quorum court the duty to fix the compensation of county employees and officials. In addition to the broad power under the Arkansas Constitution, ACA § 14-14-1206(a) expressly references compensation by lump sum payment. The AG noted, however, it is clear the salary of county official may not exceed the maximums prescribed by law, and a bonus or lump sum payment might be restricted to the maximum under the law. The AG also noted that a bonus or lump sum payment may be based upon longevity or years of service. However, the provisions of ACA § 14-14-1203(d) that limit the timing for reduction of a county official’s salary would need to be taken into account for the longevity pay type of bonus for county officials. Finally, the AG noted that justices of the
AG OPINION NO. 2016-040 The AG made clear that counties can receive reimbursement for payments disbursed to election commissioners on a per-public-meeting basis only. The AG explained that ACA § 7-4-111(b) and the Rules for Reimbursement adopted by the State Board of Election of Commission (SEBC) limits the reimbursement to the county to payments for participation by county election commissioners in meetings. The law also sets a minimum and maximum reimbursement sum per meeting and limits the number of meetings for state-funded elections subject to reimbursement. The AG noted that a county will not receive reimbursement for tasks performed by an election commissioner outside of the context of a meeting. The AG also determined that there is no prohibition in law on counties in providing reasonable compensation to election commissioners for their performance of necessary tasks, if any, that cannot or cannot practicably be accomplished in the context of a meeting.
Mark Whitmore AAC Chief Counsel
Did an aspect of county government “make news” recently in your county? Did any of your county officials or staff get an award, appointment or pat on the back? Please let us know about it for the next edition of County Lines magazine. You can write up a couple of paragraphs about it, or if something ran in your local paper, call and ask them to forward the story to us. We encourage you or your newspaper to attach a good quality photo, too: e-mail csmith@arcounties.org. COUNTY LINES, FALL 2016
