A nonpartisan group of government transparency advocates has revised its proposal for a citizen-initiated act that would alter the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
On Thursday, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency again submitted ballot language for the proposed 2024 initiative. Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected a previous iteration of the popular name and ballot title on Monday, saying it lacked enough clarity and parts of it would be unconstitutional.
The revised Arkansas Government Transparency Act did not fulfill Griffin’s request for more detailed definitions of “public meeting” and “communication” between members of a governing body. The proposed definitions are part of ACT’s efforts to codify a definition of a public meeting, which has long been unclear and frustrating to members of government and the news media, and broaden the legal definitions of a “governing body” and “communication” among members.
The new ballot language did include a definition of government transparency, “the government’s obligation to share information with citizens.” Griffin previously said this term needed a definition in his rejection of both the first proposed act and a companion amendment that would enshrine the right to government transparency into the state Constitution..
ACT disagreed and defended its use of the phrase in its submission to Griffin’s office Thursday.
“As you can see, there is no better word to encompass the breadth of rights we are addressing than ‘transparency,’” the group said in its email provided to the Arkansas Advocate. “The other synonyms do not fully embrace meetings, records, and notice.”
Act – 2 – PDF
Another change to the proposal is the addition of a section that would specify how records custodians must contact requesters and inform them whether the records are disclosable or not.
The proposed act would also:
- Create stiffer civil penalties for violating the FOIA.
- Protect citizens’ right to appeal FOIA decisions and collect any resulting attorneys’ fees.
- Repeal Act 883 of 2023, which gave Arkansas school boards more reasons to go into executive session and allow more people to have closed-door meetings with school board members.
- Mandate that records concerning the planning or provision of security services to the governor and other state elected officials be considered public and accessible under the FOIA after three months.
ACT formed in response to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signing of a law enacted during a special session in September that shields the security records in question from public access. Sanders advocated for several more exemptions to the FOIA that met bipartisan pushback and did not advance in the Legislature.
The act would also create the Arkansas Government Transparency Commission to help citizens enforce their right to obtain public records and observe public meetings. The initial proposal sought to put some appointments to the commission in the hands of the Arkansas Supreme Court, but Griffin wrote Monday that requiring justices to appoint commissioners violates the separation of powers clause in the state Constitution.
The revised proposal would instead require the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Senate Minority Leader, the House Minority Leader and the Lieutenant Governor to each appoint a commissioner.
The act would also put the commission in charge of handling challenges to FOIA requests from records custodians. The previous version of the proposal would have given circuit courts this responsibility, but Griffin said this would have violated Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 80, which governs procedural rules of the courts.
ACT submitted four possible ballot titles, all worded similarly, to Griffin’s office with the proposed act. The group did the same thing with its second submission of the proposed amendment on Wednesday.
Transparency advocates hear public input on proposal to enshrine FOIA in Arkansas Constitution
ACT initially planned to submit only a constitutional amendment but later realized that it would best be able to create enforceable government transparency policy by proposing an act to amend the FOIA and an amendment that would make the Constitution support the law, they told an audience in November.
Griffin has until Jan. 8 to approve or reject the new amendment proposal and Jan. 9 to approve or reject the new act proposal.
With Griffin’s approval, ACT may begin canvassing the state for signatures from registered voters with a deadline of July 5 for the measures to qualify for the ballot. 90,704 signatures are required for proposed constitutional amendments, and 72,563 signatures are required for initiated acts.
Both the act and amendment would go into effect Nov. 6, 2024, the day after the general election.
