Forty-seven years ago the Arkansas Legislature passed one of the most comprehensive and strongest open-records and open meetings laws in the United States. In fact, when the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act passed in 1967, it cruised through both the House and the Senate without a single dissenting vote. Then Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller called the act’s passage “one of the most significant achievements of his administrations”.
Just months later, the state’s highest court, the Arkansas Supreme Court, reaffirmed the FOIA and stated in its opinion, “We have no hesitation in asserting our conviction that the Freedom of Information Act was passed wholly in the public interest and is to be liberally interpreted to the end that its praiseworthy purposes may be achieved”.
The FOIA is a law that gives Arkansans access to public records and public meetings. It was passed with the intent to regulate governing bodies to comply with providing information on decisions they are making in the public’s behalf. Continue>>>
======