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The Morning News

Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green issued a letter cautioning Centerton officials this week that they had violated the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act.

Green received a complaint in May alleging that Centerton's City Council and Planning Commission violated the law by signing letters in support of a waterline expansion project outside of a public meeting.

Melvin Coffelt, the chairman of the Centerton Waterworks and Sewer Commission, stated in an affidavit that he visited members of the two city boards and asked for them to sign the letters. Once the signatures were gathered, the letters were sent to the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission for it to factor into its decision whether to fund the project.

The Centerton commission is seeking state funding for the $2.2 million project which would extend the water lines within the city and to 250 new customers who live outside the city limits.

In her letter to Centerton officials dated June 28, Green noted that the letters established the position of the two governing bodies but neither group met to discuss the issue before the public.

Green noted in her letter that the Freedom of Information Act requires all meetings of governing bodies, whether informal or formal, should be public.

"It is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that the electors shall be advised of the performance of public officials and of the decisions that are reached in public activity and in making public policy," Green stated in the letter, citing the legislative intent for the law.

Green determined that although the letters did not violate the FOIA, the board members' actions do violate the spirit of the law.