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Brenda Blagg and Dennis A. Byrd, FOIArkansas Project

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act may not require an answer to mail-in requests for public documents, but the state’s attorney general thinks it’s a good idea for public officials to respond.

Attorney General Mark Pryor praised the “extra effort” demonstrated by most county clerks to answer a request sent by traditional mail, or “snail mail” as it’s called by those who prefer the immediacy of electronic mail.

In separate surveys, the FOIArkansas Project tested responses to both traditional mail and e-mail by requesting documents that would be available under the state Freedom of Information Act to an Arkansas citizen seeking them in person.

Results were dismal in a survey of public universities by e-mail; only one university in 12 responded with the information requested in an Aug. 26 e-mail. However, 58 of the state’s 75 county clerks, or 77 percent, responded by to the “snail mail” request by sending either the exact document requested or something similar.

The mail surveys were part of a larger test that included walk-in surveys of four offices in each of the state’s counties — the county jail, the county unit of the state Health Department, a city and a school district. The city and school district were selected at random.

Reacting to the 77 percent compliance rate among county clerks, Pryor said he was pleased to see so many of them comply with “the spirit” of the state’s open records law.

“Here they are getting a letter from Little Rock and it seems very reasonable ... to run a copy and do it all by mail,” said Pryor. He acknowledged, however, that “there’s probably nothing (in the law) that requires them to do that.”

The clerks were asked in a letter from a citizen for a copy of the county judge’s post-election campaign finance report from the most recent election. The letters were intended to test whether clerks would respond to requests for public information by mail.

The letters were mailed Aug. 13, by Tamara Robinson of North Little Rock, the wife of a reporter, from the couple’s home. Robinson enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a $2 check to cover copying costs. She, like other participants in the FOIArkansas Project, did not identify herself as working for a news organization. Nor did the letter indicate that similar information was being sought in other counties.

Sixty-three counties responded in one way or another to the request, but only 35 provided the exact document sought in the letter.

The 35 counties that sent the exact document and 23 more that sent similar reports, when considered together, gave county clerks an initial compliance rate of 77 percent. Three sent the judge’s “statement of financial interest,” which provides minimal information about a candidate’s sources of income, but nothing related to contributions. Two others sent letters asking for more specifics about the request.

Thirty-eight of the 58 responses were back to Robinson within three business days. By Aug. 23, six business days later, 70 percent, or 53 counties, had responded.

The e-mail survey, which was sent Aug. 25, went to 12 state universities. Only one — Arkansas State University at Jonesboro — responded immediately with the requested information.

For the electronic test, an e-mail account was created on the Yahoo Web site, a free e-mail server, in the name of Tondorra Williams, a reporter’s spouse, and sent from the couple’s home computer.

The request was for a statistical breakdown of faculty and students by race and gender during the Spring 1999 term.

Officials were asked to return the data by e-mail if possible, or, in the alternative, to transfer the information to a computer disk and send it by traditional mail.

None of the universities sent a disk. It took two weeks and a number of e-mail exchanges to get other responses, not all of which were the requested records, from the universities. Two didn’t respond at all.

Electronic mail did not exist when the Freedom of Information Act first passed in 1967. However, an Electronic Records Study Commission, created this year by the Legislature, is to make recommendations for legislation to address computer-related issues.

Using e-mail as a means of making a request under the FOIA is among issues the commission will address, according to Julie Cullen, commission co-chairman.

“The issue that needs to be addressed is the time element,” Cullen said. “Does the clock begin to run when the e-mail is sent or when the e-mail is read?

Should an e-mailed request be confirmed by a telephone conversation? What if a request is mailed on Monday to a person that is on vacation until Friday? How is the receipt of the message confirmed?”

The commission has met twice — in August and September — and discussions of e-mail and record requests have not surfaced.

Elana Wills, senior assistant attorney general and head of the Opinions Division in the attorney general’s office, pointed out that not only was e-mail non-existent when the law was passed, so were fax machines. Photocopiers in government offices were rare, she added.

Cost issues related to photocopies is one of the common questions asked of the attorney general’s office, Wills said. The only guidance provided is an opinion issued in the 1980s by then-Attorney General Steve Clark, who said 25 cents was not an unreasonable charge for photocopies.

Responding to e-mail requests under the FOIA would shift the cost of copying to the person requesting the information, Wills said.

“We’ve got to update our law ... a lot’s changed,” she said.

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.