Elizabeth Caldwell, FOIArkansas Project

LITTLE ROCK — Dr. Fay Boozman, director of the state Department of Health, has established a plan to familiarize employees with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Boozman set the plan in motion after a media survey in August found that about half the 75 county health units visited complied with a request for public documents.

“In a free society like this, when you have a republic form of government, openness and making available the workings of government are critical in making society work,” Boozman said.

The plan calls for the department’s offices of communication and general counsel to conduct training for all employees “to emphasize what is releasable and what isn’t,” he said.

Boozman of Little Rock, a former state senator who has led the department since February, ordered training to begin in September; it is expected to be completed by March 2000.

Boozman has instructed each health unit to keep a copy of the FOI policy at the reception desk at all department offices for quick reference.

Also, new employees will receive a copy of the FOI policy, a summary of questions and answers and instruction about the law.

“We’ve got to raise an FOI request to a higher level. That’s a request that needs immediate attention,” Boozman said.

“If you don’t know how to handle it, you find somebody that does know how to handle it. It’s something that needs to be put at the highest level of expedience,” he said.