FOIArkansas Project

Recommendations by the FOIArkansas Project team for ways citizens can make the state Freedom of Information Act work for them:

• Read the law. It spells out rights of access to public records and to public meetings in Arkansas.
• People should know the law so they cannot be bullied. They also should take a copy of the law with them if making a request for records in person.
• Citizens should be polite but persistent. A records request is frequently turned down if a person is rude.

• FOIArkansas ----------------Unlocking the public's business

  Any Arkansan is not required to give his name or make a request in writing, but may find access to records easier if he is willing to do so.
• The law requires "reasonable access to public records and reasonable comforts and facilities for the full exercise of the right to inspect and copy those records."
• All records maintained in public offices or by public employees within the scope of their employment are presumed to be public records. Except for specific exemptions, all public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any state citizen during regular business hours of the custodian of the records.
• If the custodian of records refuses immediate access to public records, citizens should ask the custodian to certify in writing that the record in question is in active use or storage and set a date and hour within three working days, at which time the record will be made available.
• Anyone making an FOI request should ask for names and titles of people who deny them records and record the dates and times. They may want to consider taking a witness or taping their conversations with officials who deny records.
• With limited exceptions, all meetings, formal or informal, special or regular, of governing bodies "supported wholly or in part by public funds or expending public funds" are public meetings.
• Any Arkansan may request notice of the time and place of each regular meeting. Newspapers, radio stations and television stations, if they ask for notice, must be notified of emergency or special meetings at least two hours before the meeting takes place.
• Closed meetings, called "executive sessions" in the law, are permitted only for the purpose of considering "employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, or resignation of any public officer or employee." The law limits who may attend a closed meeting.
• Anyone refused a record or access to a public meeting has two formal avenues of appeal. One is to swear out a complaint with the prosecuting attorney alleging violations of the law, although criminal prosecutions under the FOI Act are rare. The other is to seek relief through a civil lawsuit. Requests and denials should be documented. A court can make the agency or person sued pay attorney’s fees and other litigation expenses if the plaintiff prevails.
• Anyone unsure whether a record or a meeting is public may contact FOI hotlines for the Arkansas attorney general’s office (1-800-482-8982) or the Arkansas Press Association (501-372-0800).