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Jeff Niese, The Morning News

Safeguarding individual privacy while promoting new technology in Arkansas is a growing issue facing the state, Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor said to a roomful of elected county officials on Friday.

“We must protect people’s privacy and we must step into the digital age,” Pryor said at a breakfast at the annual Association of Arkansas Counties meeting this week at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Springdale.

Asked about where the balance was between individual privacy and public Freedom of Information laws, Pryor said it was a fine line that was still being drawn.

“Right now, we have a FOI (Freedom of Information) study commission and that is where the tension is,” Pryor said. “The right to know versus the right to be left alone comes to a point. That point is not well defined. It is a tough balance to strike. I don’t have an answer but we are aware of it.”

Pryor’s address came during the last session of the three-day event. The state’s county officials came together to talk about everything from future legislation to Freedom of Information Act laws. There was even a Hawaiian luau Thursday night.

Pryor voiced his support for Amendment 1 on this year’s ballot that will go before voters in November.

“We have an archaic 1874 constitution,” Pryor said. “In this small piece of legislation, we have a chance to modernize local governments. It gives you a tool that is available to the private sector. It will help you operate more efficiently and effectively,” he said.

Pryor said he has streamlined the attorney general’s office since taking over. Policy changes in the office, he said, have been granting earlier and faster review of ballot titles.

The attorney general’s office reviews ballot titles to make sure that they accurately describe the proposed amendment.

The office issued 400 opinions last year, a record number, Pryor said.

“I’ve tried to transform the office from a sleepy, bureaucratic system to an office that works for the state of Arkansas,” he said.

Pryor briefly touched on a topic that is expected to be a political hotbed next year — realignment of districts.

There will be 12 regional meetings held around the state to gather feedback about redrawing state legislative seats, he said.

Pryor, a Democrat, will sit on an a three-member apportionment board with Gov. Mike Huckabee and Secretary of State Sharon Priest that will redraw the lines.

The districts are redrawn every 10 years after a census. They determine legislative representation in the Arkansas General Assembly.