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Amy Sherrill, FOIArkansas Project

Public officials probably want to run when they see them.

Lawyer Oscar Stilley

But that doesn’t bother three Arkansans who have made a career — well, at least a full-time hobby — out of hounding government offices for information.

Information that is open to the public under the Freedom of Information Act, that is.

Oscar Stilley of the Rye Hill community in Sebastian County, Jack Foster of Pine Bluff and Jim Parsons of Bella Vista are dogged in their determination to take full advantage of the law.

Some officials might point to “advantage” as the operative word.

Stilley, an attorney in Fort Smith, first used the FOIA to make his work as an attorney easier. In 1992, instead of using discovery motions to obtain documents in a lawsuit he had filed with the court, he filed an FOI request.

Attorneys use the discovery process to get documents or admissions from the opposing side. During a court hearing on Stilley’s case, a judge decided that the lawyer was entitled to the financial documents he was seeking under the FOIA. However, on the defendant’s appeal to the Supreme Court, Stilley lost his battle.

“If I got it (documents) through the FOI, I could take it to the press or sell it,” Stilley, 36, said. On the other hand, information obtained through discovery is for court purposes only.

The defeat at the Supreme Court didn’t deter Stilley; he has gone on to become a familiar face in Fort Smith city offices. Just ask Fort Smith City Administrator Bill Harding.

“Overall, in the time that I’ve been here, we’ve gotten FOI requests for city documents from people on a routine basis but not with frequency that Mr. Stilley makes them,” Harding said.

One afternoon in particular comes to Harding’s mind: The Friday that Stilley faxed three FOI requests 45 minutes apart on three separate issues.

“It takes our staff time to pull the information together,” Harding said about Stilley’s requested documents, which often are in three or four different areas. “And it does impact our business routine,” although he adds that the city’s files are open to anyone.

Stilley says he gets documents from the city for potential clients’ lawsuits. He says the information helps him weed out cases that aren’t viable.

“I have used the FOI many times to get documents from the city of Fort Smith,” Stilley said.

He once spent $200 for copies, at 25 cents per page.

He also has represented someone suing a city for not complying with the Freedom of Information Act.

When the judge ruled in his favor, he didn’t award Stilley any fees for his work on the case, Stilley said.

Attorneys are not the only frequent users of the FOIA.

In Pine Bluff, Jack Foster is a frequent visitor at public offices.

Some people in his hometown call him an activist, Foster said.

He utilizes the FOIA to extract information from government bodies and agencies that normally don’t want to give him the documents, he said.

“They will play with the act,” he said of public officials. “They will break the spirit of the law. If it wasn’t for the Freedom of Information Act, there would be a lot of stuff swept under the rug.”

Foster began his crusade in the name of gaining access to government documents nine or 10 years ago — he’s really not sure. Since then, he has used the FOIA more than 200 times.

“Even then, some elected officials don’t want to see you coming,” Foster said. “I think it keeps the government healthy.”

The first time he tried to get information under the act, the city of Pine Bluff required that he put his request in writing.

“At that point, I did receive it,” he said. “But, there is nothing that says it has to be writing. I think a lot of people don’t realize that.”

Foster said he understands more about the FOIA because he once ran for public office.

If a citizen wants good government, part of the key is FOIA. “Enough people do not utilize it,” he said. “It’s a wonderful tool and it’s the right of every citizen. It’s a wonderful, wonderful law. It needs to be strengthened.”

Sometimes advocacy for the FOIA comes from within a public body.

As a member of the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees, Jim Parsons filed a complaint with the Benton County prosecutor over an incident he considered a violation of the act.

Parsons said members discussed in an executive session whether to eliminate the occupied position of assistant to the president. He said the board also voted in executive session to form a committee, but did not do so in a public session. Any decisions in closed session do not take force unless they are approved in open session.

The prosecutor filed no charges, but the board filed an ethics complaint against Parsons for discussing the matter. The state Ethics Commission voted 3-2 to issue a caution to Parsons. At the time, Parsons was running for state auditor.

Parsons, who was fired as a teacher at the college before he ran and was elected to the board, claims board members since have violated the law. However, he says it would be his word against theirs. Now he carries a pocket tape recorder in his quest for good government.

“Ultimately the truth will come out if you have the ability to go in and root it out,” he said.

Parsons also has a reputation for filing frequent requests for documents under the FOIA.

Parsons has obtained stacks of documents related to a 1987 decision by then-Gov. Bill Clinton to take $6.5 million from the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System to cover a shortfall in state education funds.

Armed with the documents and an attorney general’s opinion, he filed a lawsuit against President Clinton and the former head of the state Department of Education, Tommy Venters.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza dismissed the suit.

Despite defeats, Parsons remains an advocate of open government.

“The people have a right to know what their public officials are doing and the way your money is being spent,” he said.