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David Robinson, FOIArkansas Project

Baxter County Clerk Rhonda Porter apologized for being among the 12 Arkansas county clerks who did not respond to a letter requesting a public document.

‘’I’m ashamed,’’ Porter said when contacted by a reporter.

Porter learned that the Aug. 13 letter sent out by Tamara Robinson of North Little Rock was part of a statewide survey to test whether public officials would respond to mail-in requests for public documents. The letter, which included a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a check for $2 to offset copying costs, asked all 75 county clerks for the final post-election campaign finance report from the most recent county judge’s race.

Although 63 responses were received, only 35 included the exact documents requested. Two responses contained no documents, but rather letters seeking clarification of the request. Three clerks sent the judge’s “statement of financial interest,” which provides minimal information about a candidate’s sources of income, but nothing related to contributions.

State election law requires campaign contribution reports be kept on file by the county clerks; however, the state Freedom of Information Act does not address specifically whether compliance by mail is required.

A reporter called the 12 clerks who did not respond at all between Sept. 13-16, more than a month after the letters were mailed.

The clerks’ reasons for not complying varied, but half of the 12 said they got no such letter or did not recall getting it.

Porter at first said she did not get the letter, but she promised to double-check and call the reporter if she found it.

She called back 10 minutes later.

‘’I found your envelope,’’ she said, explaining that the letter had been on an employee’s desk. Her investigation found that the letter had been taken by mistake to a downstairs voter registration office.

After a clerk from that office brought it back to Porter’s attention, Porter assigned the matter to an employee in her office with the understanding that Porter would show her later where to find the report.

‘’She was highly embarrassed and was going to get with me about it,’’ Porter said of her employee. ‘’I truly apologize. It’s not something we don’t do; we just didn’t do this one.’’

Robinson received the document from Porter two business days after the interview. Following are the other counties that did not respond, with a brief explanation from each clerk:

• n Clay: Charles Pollard, county clerk, said he did not recall getting the letter and didn’t find anyone in his office who received it.
• n Cross: Peggy Jones, county clerk, said clerks were too busy to comply with the request.
• n Dallas: Norma Castleberry, county clerk, had been out sick for several days, and clerks in her office said they were not aware of the letter.
• n Faulkner: Melinda Reynolds, county clerk, said she did not know whether her office received the letter, but she had not seen it.
• n Hot Spring: Carole Burns, county clerk, said she had not received the letter.
• n Izard: Rhonda Halbrook, county clerk, said she had not received the letter.
• n Lawrence: Billie Gail Dunlap, county clerk, said she did not think she had received the letter.
• n Newton: Hubert Roberson, county clerk, said he had retrieved the document the day before he was called by a reporter and put it in the mail the day he was called.
• n Pulaski: Carolyn Staley, county clerk, said she had received the letter and had assigned the matter to a new employee who hadn’t yet responded. Robinson received the document the day after Staley spoke to the reporter.
• n Stone: Donna Wilson, county clerk, said she did not get the letter.
• n Woodruff: Doris Wright, county clerk, said the letter had been lost on her desk, but she had found it, and the document was in that day’s mail. Robinson received it the next day.