Brenda Blagg and Dennis A. Byrd, FOIArkansas Project

It didn’t set well with Sheriff Mark Rupp when a stranger asked to see a list of people in the Newton County Jail.

It was Aug. 23, and 75 “strangers” were on a mission to survey four offices in every county in Arkansas to find out if public officials would readily turn over public documents to citizens.

A 32-year-old Arkansas law grants state residents the right to see such records; yet one out of three offices turned citizens away empty handed as they tested compliance with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The 1967 “sunshine” law gives citizens access to most public records and opens most government meetings to the public.

Like Rupp, who said he worries about “Joe Stranger” coming into his jail asking questions, many record-keepers greeted requests for public documents with suspicion.

The walk-in surveys — which were part of the FOIArkansas Project — sought access to county jail logs, to restaurant inspection reports of the state Health Department, to revenue reports of randomly selected city governments and superintendents’ contracts in randomly chosen school districts.

Five newspapers and the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock participated in the project. The five newspapers were the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, the Pine Bluff Commercial, the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, The Jonesboro Sun, and The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.

Surveyors included journalists and other employees of the newspapers and bureau, retired and semi-retired journalists and volunteers ranging from stay-at-home moms to a certified public accountant.

In initial walk-ins, surveyors gained access to almost 61 percent of requested documents.

Cities proved the most responsive; officials at the 75 cities handed over requested documents 65 times (87 percent). School officials granted access to the superintendent’s contract 54 times (72 percent); jailers opened their prisoner logs in 46 counties (61 percent); and officials at county units of the Arkansas Department of Health let surveyors see requested reports barely half the time — at 38 of 75 offices (51 percent).

When possible, surveyors went back the same day to offices that first refused access to documents. Combining first and second visits, the compliance rate rose to 66 percent.

Project participants left stamped self-addressed envelopes 56 times and asked officials who denied access to mail the records. Twenty-eight mailed responses postmarked within three days.

Even before the walk-in survey ended, school district officials and employees at health units were being told by supervisors or advisers that perhaps they were being tested for compliance with the FOI Act.

Kristen Gould, attorney for the state School Boards Association, got so many calls about whether superintendents were obligated to hand over their contracts that she put a message on her telephone voice mail giving districts instructions on how to handle the requests.

By the afternoon, Jim House, a regional supervisor for the Health Department who is based in Fayetteville, had sent an e-mail to state sanitarians — the people responsible for restaurant inspections — to inform them of his suspicions.

All participants in the walk-in survey attended a training class; they were told to request the documents as citizens, not as newspaper employees or reporters. Trainers said there was a perception that news media representatives get easier access to records than the public, so they were not to reveal their employers, unless pressed.

Seven surveyors either were recognized as newspaper employees or were pressed into revealing their employment. Six of the seven got access to the records in initial visits. The seventh got it by mail.

Except for specific information exempted by law, the FOI Act requires that “... all public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the regular business hours of the custodian of the record.”

Nevertheless, many of the offices were reluctant to provide access to the documents requested.

Officials in city halls were the most cooperative, a fact that didn’t surprise Paula Caudle, city clerk-treasurer at West Fork and president of the Arkansas Municipal Clerks, Recorders and Treasurers Association. Her association and the Arkansas Municipal League conduct regular workshops on the FOI Act for city officials.

“We try to convince them (elected officials) that they need to comply,” Caudle added. “I think most of us who have been in (office) for any length of time realize it works better if we cooperate.”

There were exceptions; but intimidation, claims that jail bookings aren’t public records, and calls to prosecutors were common responses at Arkansas jails. Some sheriffs or their deputies threatened arrest and ran license-plate and drivers license checks on surveyors.

Many officials in the 300 offices surveyed demanded information from project participants the state law doesn’t require citizens to give. For example:

• Record-keepers in 170 offices asked citizens why they wanted the record.
• Almost half asked for the surveyors’ names.
• In 97 offices, record-keepers wanted to know who the surveyor worked for.
• In 53 offices, surveyors had to put their requests in writing.

Surveyors were referred to a supervisor in more than half the offices. Eighty-eight either had to show or quote the FOI Act to get a record. Thirteen were asked to prove they were state residents to get a record.

Officials in 94 offices were acquainted with the law well enough to volunteer that the information being sought was public record. However, 15 flatly asserted that it was not public record. Among other reasons given for not complying with requests:

• Eleven wanted legal advice before they would release the documents.
• Eight claimed records were in use or storage.
• One cited equipment problems.
• Thirty-seven said the custodian, or person in charge of the record, was unavailable.

The FOIArkansas Project also included two mail surveys -- one by electronic mail to state universities and one by traditional mail to the 75 county clerks. The law does not require officials to respond to mail or e-mail FOI requests.

Universities were asked for a racial and gender breakdown of students and faculty based on last spring’s enrollment.

The e-mail survey turned out not to be a very reliable method for making FOI requests. Of 12 e-mail requests sent, five responses came back, but only one of the five immediately provided the information requested.

County clerks were asked for the campaign contribution report of the county judge in the last election. Fifty-eight, or 77 percent, of the clerks sent by return mail the exact report requested, or mailed other campaign contribution reports. Two sent documents called a “Statement of Financial Interest” filed by the judge.

Brenda Blagg is a reporter at The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas. Her telephone number is (501) 872-5194; her e-mail address is bblagg@nwaonline.net

Dennis A. Byrd is bureau chief for Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is dbyrd@arkansasnews.com. His telephone number is (501) 374-0699.