Arkansas Attorney General Opinion 2026-074 — State Representative Glenn Barnes

B OB R. BROOKS J R . J USTICE B UILDING
101 WEST C APITOL AVENUE
LITTLE R OCK , ARKANSAS 72201
Opinion No. 2026-074
October 9, 2026
The Honorable Glenn Barnes
State Representative
2004 West Vaugine Avenue
Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71601
Dear Representative Barnes:
I am writing in response to your request for an opinion on Arkansas Code § 12-12-1711 and Adult
Protective Services’ authority to interview family caregivers and agents holding powers of attorney
during financial exploitation investigations involving adults with dementia, memory loss, or severe
cognitive impairment. You state that the Department of Human Services (DHS) interprets the
statute to prohibit their participation, even though caregivers holding powers of attorney are often
the only people who can provide investigative facts.1
Against this background, you ask:
Does Arkansas Code Annotated § 12-12-1711 require, permit, or prohibit Adult
Protective Services from interviewing family caregivers and Powers of Attorney
during financial exploitation investigations involving adults with dementia,
memory loss, or severe cognitive impairment?
RESPONSE
Arkansas Code § 12-12-1711 permits Adult Protective Services (APS) to interview family
caregivers and agents under powers of attorney when they have relevant information. It does not
prohibit those interviews, nor does it require them in every case. But APS must conduct a thorough
investigation, so the facts in a particular case may make an interview necessary.
1 For the purposes of this opinion, I assume that the facts as presented in your request are true. As a general matter, I
am not authorized to act as a factfinder in the course of issuing Attorney General opinions. See Ark. Att’y Gen. Op.
2017-028 (“The fact finding required … is beyond the scope of an Attorney General’s opinion.”). Nevertheless, my
research indicates that DHS routinely interviews family caregivers and agents acting under powers of attorney during
APS investigations.

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The Honorable Glenn Barnes
State Representative
Opinion No. 2026-074
Page 2
DISCUSSION
Arkansas Code § 12-12-1711 does not prohibit APS from separately interviewing family
caregivers or agents under powers of attorney. The statute instead requires DHS to conduct a
“thorough investigation” of suspected adult maltreatment.2 APS performs that investigative
function in the cases assigned to it by § 12-12-1710.
For an allegation of exploitation, DHS generally must complete its investigation and enter an
investigative determination within 90 days.3 DHS may extend that period for up to 45 days if
untimely or uncooperative records, interviews, or information from a necessary source prevent
completion of the investigation or written report.4 The statute also directs DHS to examine the
allegations and other information that DHS receives or collects “from any source.”5
The investigation and written report must address the nature, extent, and cause of the maltreatment;
identify the person responsible; and evaluate persons responsible for the maltreated person’s care.
The report must also address the home environment, the maltreated person’s relationship with next
of kin or another person responsible for the person’s care, and other pertinent information.6
These provisions do not identify every person whom the investigator must interview. But they
contemplate interviews as one method of obtaining information and allow DHS to gather
information from any relevant source. When a caregiver or agent possesses information necessary
to identify the responsible person, evaluate the person’s care, or explain the financial transactions
at issue, an interview—or another lawful means of obtaining the same information—may be
necessary to complete the thorough investigation and report that the statute requires.7
Failure to conduct the investigation that the statute requires can affect the validity of the resulting
agency decision. In Williform v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, the Arkansas Court of
Appeals held that DHS had not conducted the required investigation because DHS did not contact
any witnesses, did not conduct any interviews, and instead relied on an investigation performed by
the nursing-home administrator.8 The Court held that the agency decision was “in violation of
2 A.C.A. §§ 12-12-1710, 12-12-1711(a).
3 Id. § 12-12-1711(b)(1)(A)(i).
4 Id. § 12-12-1711(b)(1)(B).
5 Id. § 12-12-1711(b)(2).
6 Id. § 12-12-1711(b)(3)(A)–(E).
7 A.C.A. § 12-12-1711(b)(2)–(3).
8 Williform v. Ark. Dep’t of Hum. Servs., 2018 Ark. App. 314, at 9–11, 551 S.W.3d 401, 406–07.

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The Honorable Glenn Barnes
State Representative
Opinion No. 2026-074
Page 3
statutory provisions” and “made upon unlawful procedure,” so it reversed the decision without
reaching whether substantial evidence supported the agency’s decision.9
The statute expressly restricts how APS must interview the maltreated person. When an alleged
incident occurred in a home, the investigator must visit the home and interview the person “alone
and out of the hearing of any next of kin or other person responsible for the maltreated person’s
care.”10 Nothing in that provision bars APS from separately interviewing those individuals.
The statutory definitions support that reading. “Exploitation” includes misuse of a power of
attorney and certain improper acts by a caregiver or fiduciary.11 The statute defines a “caregiver”
to include a related or unrelated person who assumes responsibility for the protection, care, or
custody of an endangered or impaired person, and a “fiduciary” to include an agent under a
financial or healthcare power of attorney.12 A caregiver or agent may therefore possess relevant
information, hold records, bear responsibility for the adult’s care, or be the alleged perpetrator.
Nothing in the statute imposes a categorical bar on interviewing caregivers or agents. To the
contrary, the statute directs DHS to identify the responsible person, evaluate caregivers, and collect
relevant information from any source, while expressly restricting only how APS must interview
the maltreated person.
Assistant Attorney General Justin L. Hughes prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General
9 Id. at 407; see A.C.A. § 25-15-212(h)(1), (3).
10 A.C.A. § 12-12-1711(b)(3)(F)(i)–(ii).
11 Id. § 12-12-1703(7)(B)–(C).
12 Id. § 12-12-1703(4), (8)(B)(v).

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