1. (a)

   1. (1) There are situations in which the client’s ownership interest or ability to access the resource are not clearly evident.
   2. (2) In such situations, it may be necessary to request a legal opinion from the Office of Chief Counsel of the Department of Human Services.

2. (b) To request an Office of Chief Counsel opinion regarding a resource owned or jointly owned by a member of a transitional employment assistance (TEA) family, the following procedure will be followed:

   1. (1) The county office will submit a memorandum to the Assistant Director of the Office of Program Planning and Development, Slot S333;

   2. (2) The memo will:

      1. (A) Specify that the request is for a TEA case; and
      2. (B) Include a complete description of the circumstances surrounding the resource with copies of all documentation (deeds, titles, trusts, etc.) attached;

   3. (3)

      1. (A) Office of Program Planning and Development staff will screen the request to determine if all necessary information has been provided and will research the files to determine if an opinion on the issue has been obtained previously.
      2. (B) If information is missing, the requesting office will be contacted.
      3. (C) Once all necessary information is obtained, the request will be forwarded to the Office of Chief Counsel if it is determined no previously obtained opinions address the issue; and

   4. (4)

      1. (A) Upon receipt of the Office of Chief Counsel opinion or upon the determination that a prior opinion addresses the issue, a written interpretation, via memorandum from the Assistant Director of the Office of Program Planning and Development, will be provided to the requesting county office with a copy to the Office of Field Operations.
      2. (B) This memo will be scanned into the TEA electronic record.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: “07/01/97”