Ark. Code Ann. » Title 12 Chapter 18
Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104 (2020)

Confidentiality

✓ Arkansas Code release r76: Acts through about 2020 (2021-2025 sessions missing)
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  1. Any data, records, reports, or documents that are created, collected, or compiled by or on behalf of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Arkansas State Police, or other entity authorized under this chapter to perform investigations or provide services to children, individuals, or families shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25-19-101 et seq.
  2. Any data, records, reports, or documents released under this chapter to law enforcement, a prosecuting attorney, or a court by the Department of Human Services and the Division of Arkansas State Police are confidential and shall be sealed and not re-disclosed without a protective order to ensure the items of evidence for which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy are not distributed to a person or institution without a legitimate interest in the evidence, provided that nothing in this chapter is deemed to abrogate the right of discovery in a criminal case under the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure or the law.
  3. Confidential data, records, reports, or documents created, collected, or compiled by or on behalf of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Arkansas State Police, or other entity authorized under this chapter to perform investigations or provide services to children, individuals, or families may be:
    1. Disclosed to and discussed with a member of the Child Maltreatment Investigations Oversight Committee; and
    2. Disclosed and discussed in closed meetings conducted by the Child Maltreatment Investigations Oversight Committee under § 10-3-3201 et seq.

History. Acts 2009, No. 749, § 1; 2013, No. 1006, § 7; 2015, No. 1004, § 2; 2017, No. 713, § 4; 2019, No. 1081, § 7.

Amendments. The 2013 amendment added (b).

The 2015 amendment inserted “and the Department of Arkansas State Police” in (b).

The 2017 amendment added (c).

The 2019 amendment inserted (c)(1) and redesignated former (c) as the introductory language of (c) and (c)(2); in the introductory language of (c), deleted “This section does not prohibit the disclosure and discussion of” from the beginning, and added “may be” at the end; and added “Disclosed and discussed” in (c)(2).

Case Notes

Release of Records.

Plaintiff's claim for invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, arising from the release of juvenile investigative records, failed to state a claim because (1) even if the records were protected from release under this section, plaintiff failed to state facts showing the city's and county's release of the records was intentional; (2) plaintiff failed to state facts as to how he conducted himself in a manner consistent with an actual expectation of privacy; and (3) plaintiff failed to state how he suffered damages. Duggar v. City of Springdale, 2020 Ark. App. 220, 599 S.W.3d 672 (2020).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2012–2022 · leading case: Joshua Duggar v. City of Springdale, 2020 Ark. App. 220, 599 S.W.3d 672.
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Joshua Duggar v. City of Springdale, 2020 Ark. App. 220, 599 S.W.3d 672. · cites it 2× “Arkansas Code Annotated section 12-18-104(a) (Repl. 2016) provides: Any data, records, reports, or documents that are created, collected, or compiled by or on behalf of the Department of Human Services, the Department of Arkansas State Police, or other entity authorized under…”
Dillard v. City of Springdale, 930 F.3d 935 (8th Cir. 2019). “Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104 (a). The City and County's reports were "documents" "created, collected, or compiled" by "entit[ies] authorized .”
Arkansas Dep't of Human Servs. v. A.M., 423 S.W.3d 86 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 2× “Educational neglect is a term of art that is used to describe a juvenile not going to school, and the Department has argued today that educational neglect does not fall within the definition of severe maltreatment as contained in Ark.”
Nelle v. Huntsville Sch. Dist., No. 5:21-cv-05158 (W.D. Ark. Dec. 29, 2021). · cites it 2× “Nelle’s counsel that are otherwise confidential pursuant to FERPA and the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104 . The School District shall label all records protected by these statutes in a manner that identifies them as confidential and for attorneys’…”
Dillard v. City of Springdale, No. 5:17-cv-05089 (W.D. Ark. Feb. 9, 2022). · cites it 2× “Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104 (a). The Court finds that the two statutes quoted above—§§ 16-90-1104(b) and 12-18- 104(a)—are clear and unambiguous.”
Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104(17): 1 case
Arkansas Dep't of Human Servs. v. A.M., 423 S.W.3d 86 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012). “Educational neglect is a term of art that is used to describe a juvenile not going to school, and the Department has argued today that educational neglect does not fall within the definition of severe maltreatment as contained in Ark.”
Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-104(a): 1 case
Joshua Duggar v. City of Springdale, 2020 Ark. App. 220, 599 S.W.3d 672. “Arkansas Code Annotated section 12-18-104(a) (Repl. 2016) provides: Any data, records, reports, or documents that are created, collected, or compiled by or on behalf of the Department of Human Services, the Department of Arkansas State Police, or other entity authorized under…”
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