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By Kirby Sanders

The Morning News • KSANDERS@NWAONLINE.NET

BENTONVILLLE — Circuit Judge Tom Keith dismissed a Freedom of Information Act complaint filed by a Bentonville resident against the city attorney.

Greg Carney sued Camille Steadman-Thompson claiming that her recommendation that a city employee not sign for receipt of a Freedom of Information request letter violated his rights of access.

Carney argued that certain documents he received from the city indicated that other documents might exist. The refusal of city employees to sign for his FOI request caused him to “distrust the administration of the (city’s) procedure” in producing everything he was searching for.

Attorney George Spence, representing Steadman-Thompson, told Keith that the city not only produced the documents as requested, but also supplied copies to Carney at no charge. Spence also noted that officials arranged for a copy of a large plat map to be made by an outside source because the city could not reproduce the document.

Spence told the judge that the plat-map copy remained at the city’s planning office and that Carney had not retrieved it.

During the Monday hearing, Carney told Keith that he was not told previously that he had been supplied with all the documents the city had regarding his request.

“Today is the first time I’ve been told these were all of the documents,” Carney said.

Keith refused to hear any argument regarding signature for receipt of Carney’s request, noting that there was no requirement in the law for such a procedure. He also told Carney that his trust of the procedure was not an issue that the court could adjudicate.

“The way this works,” Keith said, “is you ask for documents and, if they refuse to give them to you, then I can order them to release the documents — among other things. So far, you have not shown me that there were any documents they did not supply.”

Copyright 2000, All rights reserved