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The Arkansas Court of Appeals has ruled that AT&T has been improperly assessing fees on the telephone lines that belong to Clark County and the City of Gurdon, Arkadelphia attorney Todd Turner announced today.
Around 2007, Clark County became concerned about the rising costs for its telephone services, and county officials started trying to get information about various charges that were being collected on each of its telephone lines. When it did not get satisfactory information about the charges, the county filed suit against AT&T in 2017. Gurdon also filed a similar lawsuit.
The County challenged several of the fees that AT&T had been charging on every county telephone line, including lines that were not capable of making phone calls. AT&T responded to the lawsuit by arguing that Clark County and Gurdon’s claims should be dismissed because of an arbitration provision on AT&T’s website. The circuit court rejected that argument and AT&T appealed. In 2018, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that the claims were not subject to arbitration and sent the cases back to Clark County Circuit Court.
Following the first appeal, Clark County’s lawsuit was certified as a class action and Clark County was appointed to represent all Arkansas counties who had paid these fees to AT&T. Despite the ongoing lawsuit, AT&T filed an action against Clark County and Gurdon at the Arkansas Public Service Commission in 2018. The PSC eventually entered a ruling that supported AT&T’s imposition of one of the fees.
A trial was held in December 2022 in the Clark County lawsuit. At the conclusion of the trial, Special Judge Gary Arnold ruled in favor of AT&T. A similar ruling was issued in Gurdon’s lawsuit. Clark County and Gurdon appealed the rulings, and the Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case on April 29, 2026.
On May 20, the Court of Appeals found in favor of Clark County and Gurdon. The Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court’s decision and held that AT&T had been improperly charging 911 fees on Clark County’s telephone lines because counties are “service providers” exempt from 911 fees. The Court of Appeals also ruled that the City of Gurdon was not subject to 911 fees and that AT&T had been improperly collecting a “Special Municipal Charge” from Gurdon which was designed to collect money that AT&T actually owed to Gurdon for municipal franchise payments.
Clark County and Gurdon were represented by Todd Turner and Dan Turner. “We are very happy for our clients,” said Todd Turner. “Government officials asked AT&T for explanations about these fees for several years and then AT&T forced these public entities into litigation that lasted almost another decade.”
Turner expressed his appreciation to county Judge Troy Tucker and other county judges, as well as the Gurdon city officials who actively assisted in the lawsuits. “Local governments have to have telephone service, but they operate with limited funds,” Turner noted. “It’s not easy to stand up to AT&T, but these were important issues that affected a large number of Arkansas counties and cities.”
Turner said the counties also appreciated the Association of Arkansas Counties, which filed a friend of the court brief in the appeal.
Once the Court of Appeals’ ruling becomes final, AT&T must stop charging these fees to government customers and the cases will return to Clark County Circuit Court for a determination of the appropriate amount of refunds for the counties and cities.