The woman who was trusted to guard the accuracy of Arkansas's bar examination results has been charged with 65 felony counts of tampering with a public record, after investigators concluded that bar exam scores were quietly moved from one candidate to another across at least eight exam administrations over five years — and that about 11,400 files that the law required her office to keep for 25 years were deleted or made unavailable. Nancie Givens, the former executive director of the Arkansas Supreme Court's Office of Professional Programs, was charged on Thursday, November 5, in allegations detailed the same day in releases from the court, the ABA Journal, Arkansas Business and Talk Business & Politics all reported. The charges are allegations, not findings: Givens is presumed innocent unless and until the state proves its case in court.

Source: ABA Journal

Givens has pleaded not guilty to each count, according to the docket in her case filed Thursday in Arkansas District Court, Bloomberg Law reported. Bloomberg Law described the filing as four criminal charges involving 65 felony counts of public-records tampering, and gave the case as Arkansas v. Givens, Ark. Dist. Ct., No. LRCR-26-5292, indictment dated November 5, 2026. A seal order has been put in place, Bloomberg Law reported, and other documents providing additional detail about the case are not publicly available. Givens could not immediately be reached for comment, Bloomberg Law said. Talk Business & Politics reported that the charges were filed by the prosecuting attorney's office for the Sixth Judicial District, which covers Pulaski and Perry counties.

Source: Bloomberg Law

How the points were allegedly harvested

According to the six justices who signed the court's detailed joint release, the internal review found evidence that Givens took points away from some examinees and gave them to others who sat the same examination. The justices' statement, quoted by Talk Business & Politics, said: “Evidence exists that Givens harvested points from a number of examinees' scores and then added them to other examinees' scores within the same test administration.” The result, the court said, was that some applicants were lifted to scores of at least 270 — the minimum passing score — while others lost points they had earned.

Source: Talk Business & Politics

Two alleged cases show how far the manipulation is said to have reached. In at least one instance, the court said, alterations may have lowered an applicant's score from passing to failing — an examinee who had earned a licence was recorded as having failed. In another case, the examinee who should have received the highest score on an examination allegedly had points deducted, so that a different applicant was named as the exam's top scorer, Arkansas Business reported from the court's release. The ABA Journal reported the same account: over at least eight administrations, scores were moved between candidates, in at least one case turning a pass into a fail.

Source: Arkansas Business

11,400 files that had to be kept for 25 years

The score allegations sit alongside a records loss on a much larger scale. The court said about 11,400 files were deleted or rendered unavailable, most of them bar examinee applications, applicant profiles and examination score sheets that the Office of Professional Programs was required by Arkansas Supreme Court rules to retain for 25 years, the ABA Journal and Talk Business & Politics both reported. The alleged deletion was not spread over five years: the court's review found that numerous files and electronic communications were modified or deleted in early January 2026, shortly before Givens left the office — conduct Bloomberg Law, summarising the court's release, described as an attempt to hide the alleged wrongdoing.

Source: ABA Journal

How it was found: a resignation, a review, then the FBI

The alleged irregularities were discovered in January 2026, and Givens resigned as executive director in February 2026. After her resignation, the court directed Robert Brech, executive director of its Office of Professional Conduct, to supervise the Office of Professional Programs, which administers the bar examination. Reviewing the office's records and operations, Brech found the modified and deleted files, notified a member of the court, and was directed to establish the extent of the missing records; his review of what remained uncovered the score discrepancies, Talk Business & Politics reported. The criminal investigation began in April 2026 and involved both the Arkansas State Police and the FBI, the court said.

Source: Talk Business & Politics

“An unprecedented breach of public trust” — if the allegations are true

“If these allegations are true, these actions constitute an unprecedented breach of public trust,” the six justices said, describing what they called a “grave and potentially criminal abuse of power.” The detailed joint statement was issued by Associate Justices Courtney R. Hudson, Rhonda K. Wood, Shawn A. Womack, J. Cody Hiland and Nicholas J. Bronni, along with Special Associate Justice Cory A. Cox. Chief Justice Karen Baker issued a separate, shorter statement confirming the investigation and the criminal charges and saying: “To preserve the integrity of the active and ongoing investigation, the court declines to make further comment at this time.” Brech, reached by Talk Business & Politics, said he could not comment beyond the joint release because the state and federal investigations are ongoing.

Source: Talk Business & Politics

What it means for the lawyers and applicants of 2020–2025

For the hundreds of people who sat the Arkansas bar exam between July 2020 and July 2025, the court's central reassurance is narrow but important: the six justices emphasised that the vast majority of applicants who were told they had passed did, in fact, pass. Applicants whose results were affected will be notified by the Office of Professional Conduct as soon as their status can be definitively confirmed. What the court has not said is how many applicants received incorrect scores, or whether anyone was admitted to practise law — or denied admission — because of an altered result; the Sixth Judicial District prosecuting attorney also declined to disclose how many examinations or applicants were affected, KATV reported. For scale: 244 people sat the July 2025 Arkansas bar exam, with a 70 percent pass rate, according to National Conference of Bar Examiners figures cited by the ABA Journal. The court said new testing procedures and security measures were put in place for the February 2026 bar examination, and Givens has separately been referred to the Office of Professional Conduct for an investigation into potential violations of the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct.

Source: ABA Journal

What happens next

Three tracks now run at once. The criminal case, Arkansas v. Givens, proceeds in Arkansas District Court on the 65 counts under seal, so the next hearing date and the detailed evidence have not been made public. The recovery effort continues: the court says it is working with state and federal authorities to recover the deleted and missing data, analyse every test administration in the five-year window and determine the full scope of the alleged misconduct — work that decides which applicants get notification letters. And the professional-conduct referral runs separately from the criminal case. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when the court unseals more of the case or the first affected applicants are notified.