For many JDs, the biggest nightmare is failing the bar exam. But what if you earned a passing score, only for someone to change it to a failing one?
That is one possibility Arkansas officials are investigating after a review raised questions about the accuracy of reported bar exam results. Some applicants allegedly received an unearned boost, while others may have lost points they earned.
At the center of those allegations is Nancie Givens, the former executive director of the Arkansas Supreme Court’s Office of Professional Programs.
Points Taken From One, Given to Another
Givens’ former office administers Arkansas’ bar exam. Now, results from multiple years are under scrutiny: In a November 5 statement, six members of the state supreme court reported problems with scores from at least eight rounds of testing, covering July 2020 through July 2025.
The alleged changes benefited some examinees at others’ expense. According to the justices, Givens effectively redistributed points among people who sat for the same exam, lowering some candidates’ totals while increasing others’. Some of those increases allegedly brought recipients across the 270-point passing threshold, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).
But what about the people whose points were taken?
The review found at least one case in which a candidate may have been incorrectly marked as failing after their score was lowered. Passing was not the only distinction allegedly affected, either: The Supreme Court of Arkansas also says a downward adjustment cost one candidate the top spot, with someone else receiving recognition for the highest score instead.
The justices did not name the applicants or explain why certain people allegedly gained points while others lost them. Their statement also does not suggest that recipients of the extra points knew what had happened. That matters: Accusing an administrator of manipulating results is not the same as accusing the applicants of helping her do it.
A New Supervisor Finds Missing Records
The discoveries followed a leadership change. When Givens stepped down in February 2026, Robert Brech was leading the court’s Office of Professional Conduct. The court also gave him responsibility for the Office of Professional Programs.
As Brech reviewed the operations of his additional office, he found signs that records and electronic communications had been changed or erased in early January. Roughly 11,400 files were missing or inaccessible. These largely concerned applicants’ submissions, profiles, and scoring records — material subject to a 25-year preservation requirement under the court’s rules, the justices said.
Brech alerted a justice and was instructed to investigate both the missing material and any other problems. Examining the records still available led him to the questionable scores. The findings were then passed to law enforcement, and Arkansas State Police and the FBI opened a criminal investigation in April.
The gaps in the records also make it harder to establish which reported results were correct. The court says it is coordinating with investigators to retrieve the missing information and check the exams held throughout the years in question.
Criminal Charges Aren’t the Only Proceeding
The missing records are not just an obstacle to that review; their alleged destruction is part of the prosecution. Givens now faces 65 felony counts of tampering with a public record.
The case invokes Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-54-121 and involves accusations of score manipulation and an attempted cover-up through the removal of files. Givens has pleaded not guilty. The allegations remain unproven.
Her professional obligations are under scrutiny as well. A separate referral asks the Office of Professional Conduct to investigate whether she violated the rules governing Arkansas lawyers. Neither process, however, settles the question most pressing for the examinees: What results should they have received?
What Happens to the Examinees?
For examinees wondering whether they can trust their results, the court has offered some reassurance: “The vast majority of examinees who were previously informed that they had passed the Arkansas Bar Examination by the Office of Professional Programs did, in fact, pass the exam.”
Anyone whose result was affected must await an individual determination. The Office of Professional Conduct is responsible for contacting those applicants once their correct status has been established.
What comes after that remains unclear. The announcement gives no total for the people affected and does not explain how officials will address either an unearned passing result or an undeserved failing one.
The court also says it has changed how the exam is administered and secured, starting with the February 2026 test. It has not described those safeguards in detail.
More information is promised, but the justices say they will restrict what they release while investigators continue their work. For affected examinees, the unresolved question is not just what happened to their bar exam scores, but what can be done about it.
