Thomas v. Hall
Annotate this CaseAn incident at a restaurant resulted in the use of force by police Police Lieutenant David Hudson against Chris Erwin. Erwin was charged with three misdemeanor offenses. Hudson then wrote a use-of-force report to his supervisor, describing why he used force against Erwin. Erwin subsequently filed a petition against Stuart Thomas, chief of police, alleging that Thomas violated the FOIA by failing to produce Hudson's reports regarding his use of force. The City responded to both FOIA requests but withheld all four use-of-force reports, reasoning that the reports were exempt as employee-evaluation or job-performance records because they were created so that supervisors could evaluate whether the police officer performed his or her duties pursuant to departmental policy. The circuit court concluded that the use-of-force reports did not fall within the FOIA exemption for "employee evaluation or job performance records" found at Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-105(c)(1). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the use-of-force reports made by Hudson did not constitute employee-evaluation or job-performance records within the meaning of section 25-19-105(c)(1), and, thus, were subject to disclosure under the FOIA.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.