Arkansas Hiring Freeze: What It Covers, Exemptions, and Exceptions

The Arkansas hiring freeze is an executive order Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed on January 10, 2023, that halted hiring and promotions across most state agencies effective immediately. It replaced the earlier freeze under Executive Order 15-01 and stays in force until the Governor amends or rescinds it.¹ If you work for the state, are trying to get hired by the state, or run an agency that needs to fill a role, the order changes what you can do and how.

Which Positions the Freeze Covers

The freeze reaches every “state entity” as defined by Arkansas Code 25-43-103. That includes any board, commission, committee, office, department, institution, bureau, council, agency, or division of state government.²

It does not matter whether the position is a backfill or a brand-new slot. A replacement position (same title and grade, being refilled after a resignation, retirement, or termination) and a newly budgeted position (approved but never filled) are both frozen. Either way, the agency has to justify a legitimate business need and get approval before proceeding.¹

Who Is Exempt

Three categories of positions inside the executive branch are exempt on the face of the order:

Positions authorized by a federally funded public employment effort.
All positions authorized for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
All positions authorized for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety.

The Office of Personnel Management, which administers the freeze through the Department of Transformation and Shared Services, has also identified extra help positions as exempt in its implementation guidance.³

Whole branches and offices sit outside the freeze as well. The Legislative and Judicial branches are excluded. So are officers, employees, and academic personnel of state institutions of higher education. Elected constitutional officers and their staff are exempt, meaning the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Land Commissioner, and State Treasurer. Staff of multimember boards, commissions, or committees whose members are elected, appointed, or serve in an ex-officio capacity are also outside the freeze.¹

What Happened to Hires Already in Progress

The order did not just pause future job postings. Agencies were told to terminate every ongoing hiring process that had not yet produced a formal offer. There was one narrow carve-out: a candidate who had already received and accepted a formal offer, had a start date within 30 days of January 10, 2023, and had approval from the department Secretary or agency head could be brought on board.¹

Anyone mid-application or waiting on an interview when the freeze hit was out. The 30-day window plus secretary-level sign-off meant only a small number of pending hires made it through.

How Agencies Get an Exception

An agency cannot lift the freeze on its own. To fill a frozen position, it has to submit a request to the Department of Transformation and Shared Services, addressed to the Administrator of the Office of Personnel Management. From there the request goes to the Governor’s Executive Review for a final decision.¹

OPM’s guidance sets the standard. Agencies file a Hiring Freeze Request Form and must justify the exception. An exception should be sought only when refilling the position is critical and failure to fill it would prevent the agency from delivering necessary services to Arkansas residents. If the work can be absorbed by redistributing duties among existing staff, the exception is not warranted.³

Sequence matters. The vacancy cannot be advertised on the ARCareers site until OPM approves the exception request. Only after approval may the agency post the job and run the normal hiring process.³

How Promotions Work Under the Freeze

Promotions are restricted, not banned. The rule turns on whether the employee stays in the same position number or moves into a different one.

For in-position promotions, including career ladder advancements, an agency can promote an employee if the position they currently hold is already authorized at the higher classification. The room for the promotion has to be built into the slot itself. When an employee is promoted into a different position number, the agency has to leave the vacated position unfilled. The order treats that vacated slot the same as any other frozen vacancy.³

That is a real constraint on internal mobility. Promoting someone into a new role means losing the role they came from. Agencies short on staff often lean on career ladder promotions inside the same position number instead, since those don’t trigger the trade-off.

What This Means If You Want a State Job

The freeze has not stopped Arkansas state hiring altogether. Corrections, Public Safety, federally funded roles, and extra help positions remain open. Higher education, the legislative and judicial branches, and constitutional officers’ staffs are outside the freeze as well.

For everything else, any job you see posted on ARCareers has already cleared the exception process, so a live posting means OPM has authorized the agency to fill it. The department Secretary or agency head is personally accountable for making sure the hiring follows classification and compensation rules.¹ Until you have a confirmed start date in hand, hold off on giving notice at a current job.

1
Arkansas Governor. Executive Order to Institute an Immediate Hiring and Promotion Freeze
2
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-43-103 – Definitions
3
Department of Transformation and Shared Services. Hiring Freeze Process