Dennis Byrd

Dennis Byrd, FOIArkansas project

Awareness, education and amendments may be the things that will continue to give Arkansas the edge in issues related to freedom of information.

The first two are easy. The third is more problematic.

Arkansas has a strong Freedom of Information Act, but more has to be done to make people aware of their rights under the law and to educate public officials about their responsibility to uphold it.

When a team of news hounds gathered last spring to begin discussions about testing the state Freedom of Information Act for compliance, the goals included making the public more aware of the law and pointing out citizens' right of access to their government.

A statewide survey of access to public records revealed the law does not always work the way it was intended. The survey also showed that personnel in some offices were more FOI savvy than in others.

Of the 75 city offices surveyed in the statewide test, citizens asking to see a specific public document were shown it 65 times in their initial stops. When you add in the times city officials gave it to a surveyor on a return visit or sent the requested document by mail, 70 out of 75 complied with the law. Not perfect, but not bad.

Of course, Attorney General Mark Pryor was right when he said anything less than 100 percent compliance is undesirable.

A citizen should be able to walk into any taxpayer-funded office during regular business hours and, in most cases, be granted immediate access to current public documents. There are many reasons why Arkansans might want or need to see certain records, but it is not necessary for anyone other than the person asking for the record to know that reason.

A mother whose 18-year-old child is missing and hopes he or she is in the county jail rather than injured or dead should be allowed to walk in and look at the prisoner log for her child's name, no questions asked. The mother may have to prove she is an Arkansan because the law opens public records only to citizens of the state, but rarely do public officials make such requests.

When surveyors went to jails, sheriffs and deputies sometimes attempted to intimidate those asking to see the prisoner list, even in cases in which access was granted. Surveyors were given access to jail logs in 61 percent of initial visits.

Health department offices in each county granted access to restaurant-inspection reports in only 38 of 75 initial contacts. In response, Dr. Fay Boozman, director of the state Department of Health, implemented an FOIA-training program for all existing employees and will make training on the FOI Act part of new-employee orientation.

Other agencies need to follow Boozman's lead.

The governor's office already provides training to newly appointed members of boards and commissions. Rex Nelson, the governor's spokesman and a former journalist, does the training. The Municipal League apparently does a good job on FOI training at annual meetings. Other associations should try to mirror their efforts.

Voters should be wary of candidates for any office who say government should be run like a business. Business decisions are made behind closed doors. In government, business should be conducted in public. Taxpayers have a voice by electing only those people dedicated to open government.

Because Arkansas has a strong law -- one that can even result in jail time for violators -- journalists who have taken an interest in keeping it strong have been reluctant to open it to amendments. It is reluctance with good reason; there is always the danger of unintended consequences or a legislative add-on or subtraction that would weaken it.

But, with a legislative mind-set of looking at possible enforcement options with more immediacy than going to court, the time may be right to consider thoughtful, careful change. One of the ideas being floated is to grant additional enforcement authority to the attorney general.

A commission similar to one in Connecticut also has been discussed, but that option seems to have less immediate support, especially from Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee's unpleasant experiences with the state Ethics Commission has soured him on the idea of creating another commission or giving the Ethics Commission oversight on FOI issues.

Sen. Mike Beebe of Searcy and Rep. Shane Broadway of Bryant believe the possibility of intermediate enforcement options for FOI Act violators should be studied between now and the 2001 legislative session.

Pryor has expressed an interest and wants to be included in discussions with lawmakers. The FOI Coalition -- a group of journalists who serve as watchdogs over the FOI Act -- also need to be involved.

Caution will be the watchword.