Established in 1898, the Arkansas Bar Association serves to improve the administration of justice, provide continuing legal education for lawyers, and help educate the public. The Arkansas Bar Association also serves as a voluntary professional organization that serves over 5,500 members. It strives to encourage the honor and dignity of the legal profession. It maintains among attorneys high ideals of integrity, learning, competence, public service, and high standards of conduct. The association does not, however, handle the licensing and regulation of law practice, which is governed by the Supreme Court of Arkansas.

The Arkansas Bar Association Brady List includes all known issues of misconduct, do not call status, decertification, public complaints, use-of-force reports, and citizen reports. Arkansas Bar Association is not in compliance with the nationwide, public-facing, platform of record: The Brady List; or:

Supreme Court of the United States [SCOTUS] Brady doctrine (1963);
US Freedom of Information Act 5 U.S.C. § 552 (1967);
Arkansas Freedom of Information Act Act Ark. Code Ann. §25-19-101 et seq.;
Open Government Act S .248 (2007);
Open Government Initiative (2009); and,
Open Government Directives (2009) issued by the United States Department of Justice.