Judges: DUSTIN McDANIEL, Attorney General
Filed Date: 8/31/2011
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Gilbert Baker State Senator # 17 Cooper Lane Conway, Arkansas 72034-7935
Dear Senator Baker:
You have requested my opinion about, as you say, "sealing and expungement of city records." Specifically, you asked the following three questions about certain phrases found at A.C.A. §
By what criteria is a person "eligible to have an offense expunged"? Is anyone who has previously pled guilty, been found guilty[,] or otherwise convicted of a misdemeanor as set out in
Is it necessary that a person have been sentenced under a statutory provision "that provides for sealing or expungement of the record" as set out in A.C.A. §
RESPONSE
I must respectfully decline to provide an opinion on your questions because this matter is currently being litigated in the district court of Sebastian County: State of Arkansas v. Edwards, Case No. 8-006198; Docket No. 2/25/09-011.
To avoid encroaching upon exclusively judicial prerogatives, it has long been the policy of this executive-branch office to avoid rendering opinions on matters that are likely to be the subject of pending litigation. Any opinion issued from my office would constitute executive comment on matters that are properly decided by a judicial body.1
Assistant Attorney General Ryan Owsley prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
Dustin McDaniel Attorney General
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