# T008 — Post-Comment LPR Rule Version Divergence ARDOT's March 17 format branch and July 7-8 post-comment branch are each later than the other in a different sense: the March file carries the more extensive CAR-format/legal edits used in the published proposal, while the July file carries the three public-comment decisions. The July file does not contain all March edits, and no produced record identifies a final merged branch. ## Statement A The March branch is the formatted proposal branch. It changes the administrator provision to a lead-in plus two numbered duties: “Serve as the Arkansas Highway Police LPR administrators” and “Establish and maintain protocols ...” (`12_CAR_150_-_License_Plate_Reader_Rules.docx`, ¶¶ P0047-P0049; [[March 17 2026 Rule Draft Format Revision]]). It also divides extended retention into separate authorization and dissemination-log clauses and cites all of § 12-12-1804 (`12_CAR_150_-_License_Plate_Reader_Rules.docx`, ¶¶ P0061-P0063). The published proposal packet contains the same formatted structures (`001.01.26-001P.PDF`, pp. 5-6; [[12 CAR 150 License Plate Reader Rules]]). ## Statement B The July branch is the post-comment branch. It contains July 8 insertions tying use to § 12-12-1803, identifying Arkansas Highway Police, and correcting the sharing citation to § 12-12-1804 (`12_CAR_150_-_License_Plate_Reader_Rules.7.7.26.docx`, ¶¶ P0044, P0047, P0057; [[July 7 2026 Post-Comment LPR Rules Draft]]). But it restores the earlier singular-administrator sentence and the one-sentence extended-retention clause with § 12-12-1804(b) (`12_CAR_150_-_License_Plate_Reader_Rules.7.7.26.docx`, ¶¶ P0048-P0049, P0060-P0061). ## Why it matters The branches differ in the exact allocation of administrator duties, the actor expressly responsible for statistical compilation, and the structure and statutory scope of extended retention. Without a final merge or filed copy, the wiki cannot identify which wording ARDOT intended to adopt. Treating either file as “the final rule” would fill an evidentiary gap. ## Resolution status `open` — resolve only with the rule text submitted for final legislative review/adoption, an agency comparison or merge record, or a later authoritative filing showing which clauses survived. ## Discovery Surfaced during the 2026-07-10 supplemental ingest by hash-comparing the same-named DOCX files and comparing their accepted text to the July post-comment draft and published proposal. ## Notes This is a temporal/evidentiary version-control tension, not evidence of motive or intentional concealment. The 2026-07-20 web-source audit independently preserved the December 20, 2024 AHP document as a **Proposed Rulemaking / DRAFT** artifact (primary public record, [proposed 12 CAR 150](../../web%20archive/2026-07-20/media.ark.org/12-car-150-proposed-license-plate-reader-rules-2024-12-20.md)). It does not supply the missing post-comment merged/final branch, so the tension remains `open`.