AAC
F a m ily F r i e n d s
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...Recent Attorney General Opinions...
Summarized for county perspective AG OPINION NO. 2012-007 The Arkansas Constitution, Article 12, § 5, prescribes: “No county, city, town or municipality shall become a stockholder in any company, association or corporation; or obtain or appropriate money for, or loan its credit to, any corporation, association, institution or individual.” The AG explained that gift or donation by a county government to nonprofit corporations, including volunteer fire departments that are private nonprofit corporations, may be constitutionally suspect. (See prior AG Opinions 1992-083 and 1992250). Appropriations by a county to a public entity or governmental entity are not prohibited. A.C.A. 14-284-408(a) explicitly allows quorum courts to directly fund volunteer fire departments; however, the code must be read in the context of the Arkansas Constitution. So for counties seeking to procure services for its citizens enter contracts for local governmental services with private corporations, such contracts for services must be supported by adequate consideration. (See Attorney General Opinion No. 1999-408.) There are a litany of county government services set forth under A.C.A. 14-14-802, including emergency services, ambulance, fire protection and fire prevention services. Recently, AG Opinion No. 2012-066 described several lawful structures of contracts for: services for summer youth employment program, for economic development, youth services and other services for county affairs set forth under A.C.A. 14-14-802.
AG OPINION NO. 2012-010 The Attorney General made clear that churches and cemeteries are not exempt from ad valorem property taxes on their mineral rights, and stated that mineral interests never fall within the scope of exemptions on property taxes under Article 16, Section 5 of the Arkansas Constitution. The assessor is charged with responsibility of assessing all non-tax exempt property. Arkansas law values non-producing minerals at “zero” value due to COUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2012
the difficulty in evaluating. The minerals estate and surface estate are two entirely different property interests. A church or cemetery may be declared exempt from property taxes upon the surface estate or surface interests when used exclusively or predominately for church or cemetery purposes, respectively. Plainly stated, the minerals interests may be isolated and separate from the surface estate. Also the use of minerals in production thousands of feet below the surfaces is not exclusively for church or cemetery purposes, rather the use is for revenue production and commercial or business use. The AG also made clear that the ad valorem property tax on minerals is not a severance tax, citing the recent authority of the Arkansas Supreme Court in May v. White County et al., and A.C.A. 26-58-109 making clear that the “severance tax is in addition to the general property tax.” The AG added that the county is “obliged to tax all producing minerals interests regardless of how the surface estate might be used.” Once exploited (no longer non-producing) minerals interests are subject to taxation under the property taxes adopted under the Arkansas Constitution and law.
AG OPINION NO. 2012-003 Death scene and crime scene investigations require consultation and cooperation among various officials, law enforcement, coroners and the State Crime Lab. Prior opinions state that the coroner under normal circumstances should, where immediate action by police officers is indicated, defer to the investigation by the police officers. When “no immediate action by police officers” is required; law enforcement officers should defer to the coroner. The coroner should obtain the consent of law enforcement prior to moving the body. Law enforcement and coroners should consult as to whether the body should be moved based upon an agreement that it is appropriate and perhaps necessary
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to move the body under the circumstances. The coroner has the responsibility to move and Mark Whitmore store the body AAC Chief Counsel and remains in an appropriate facility in consultation with the crime lab and law enforcement. The “Vital Statistics Act” prescribes that the removal of the body from the place of death for final disposition must be obtained either by the coroner or the medical examiner, depending on which is to certify the cause of death. Law enforcement has no responsibility for the custody of the body or remains and therefore has no right to order which facility to transport a body, but should be consulted along with the Crime Lab. The debate over primary jurisdiction over the body should not drive a wedge between the various officials. The key to managing these circumstances is cooperation.
AG OPINION NO. 2012-009 The Attorney General concluded that A.C.A. 11-10-301(f)(2) means the Department of Workforce Services cannot be required to pay costs and fees for filing a certificate of assessment at the time of acceptance by the clerk for filing. The provision in the law asserting that no deposits of advanced costs shall be required by the department merely means there is no payment in advance of filing. Clearly, the clerk may invoice and the department is obligated to pay the fees prescribed by the law. The law does not mean, as asserted by the Department of Workforce Services, that the department is liable for the statutory filing fee only if it ultimately collects upon the delinquent contributions. 11
