Faulkner County Quorum Court opened a new year Tuesday night with a whammy. In 10-3 vote, the court resolved to “encourage the State Legislature to clarify the FOI (Freedom of Information) statute of Arkansas to allow off the record conversations between members of a public body.”
That means Faulkner County court members are possibly pushing an agenda for secret meetings to discuss county business without the knowledge or presence of the public, or maybe not.
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A housing agency's leader Little Rock, Arkansas has pleaded not guilty to a charge that he failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act by withholding documents from an Arkansas newspaper.
Metropolitan Housing Alliance Executive Director Rodney Forte entered the plea Thursday and is set to stand trial on the misdemeanor charge in January, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1uFGKJA ) reported.
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Read More… from Arkansas housing chief pleads not guilty to violating Freedom of Information Act
I was happy to read in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (subscription required) today that Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley intends to file a charge of violation of the Freedom of Information Act against Rodney Forte, director of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance of Little Rock.
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Read More… from Editorial: Consequences for violating the Freedom of Information Act
Some or all members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors often gather at a restaurant following their regularly scheduled voting meetings. The media has not received advanced notice of such meetings. To learn about these meetings, a reporter must attend the board meeting and then hope to be invited or overhear the board members discuss where they plan to eat.
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Four Fort Smith city directors were dismissed from a lawsuit alleging violations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act according to a Thursday (July 31) court filing.
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Read More… from Fort Smith (AR) Board members dismissed from FOIA lawsuit
The Fort Smith city clerk and four members of the city board of directors are accused of violating the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sebastian County Circuit Court.
City Clerk Sherri Gard is accused of individually polling Directors Keith Lau, George Catsavis and Kevin Settle after Ward 3 Director Mike Lorenz contacted her to remove items from the June 17 and July 1 directors’ meeting agendas, in the complaint.
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Read More… from Lawsuit: Fort Smith (AK) Directors, Clerk Violated FOIA
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: A liberal, a conservative, a lawyer and a legislator walk into a bar, well … into a legislative hearing. Oh never mind, we’re going to cut right to the punchline: They agreed on something.
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Read More… from Editorial: Sides Agree: Maybe AR FOIA Should Be Expanded
Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey and two other officers named in an Arkansas Whistle Blower lawsuit must do more to comply with discovery requests from the plaintiffs, a judge ruled Friday.
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Read More… from Judge: Fort Smith Police, City Must Comply With Requests In Whistle Blower Case
If the NSA spying scandal last year exposed anything besides how controversial the parameters of “national security” are, it’s that our government isn’t as transparent as we thought. Even President Obama said he didn’t know that the U.S. Department of Defense intelligence agency was monitoring the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for as long as 10 years.
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A task force has been appointed by the chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and members of the Arkansas news media have been invited to meet with the group Friday.
I wasn’t one of the 207 people who got an invitation to the meeting, which isn’t surprising since I’m just a retired editor who continues to write a column. I had a conflict anyway.
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Read More… from Note to the Arkansas task force on FOIA: Just follow the law
