Transparency Group Posts Draft FOIA Constitutional Amendment

By Michael Tilley, Talk Business & Politics, October 11, 2023

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency on Wednesday (Oct. 11) unveiled an amendment draft that would ensconce the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into the state constitution. The move follows Gov. Sarah Sanders’ attempt earlier this year to weaken the FOIA.

The draft not only seeks to make the existing FOIA part of the constitution but would better define a public meeting and add harsher penalties for those who violate the law.

“Arkansas has had one of the strongest Freedom of Information Acts in the country for 56 years,” said Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, and chair of the Constitutional Amendment Drafting Committee. “Taking this vote to the people, who we know value government transparency, will ensure the law remains strong for years to come.”

Specifically, the amendment seeks to do the following things:
• Enshrine in the state constitution the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act as it existed on Sept. 1, 2023.
• Ensure that any further changes to the FOIA that reduce government transparency may only be approved by a vote of the people of Arkansas, while providing that laws that increase government transparency may be passed by the General Assembly.
• Change as little as possible in the existing FOIA, with the primary exception being to provide a definition for “public meeting,” which has been a hole in the FOIA.
• Safeguard the ability of any citizen of Arkansas to enforce the FOIA by protecting the ability to recover attorneys’ fees in the event that a FOIA request is wrongfully denied.
• Create a penalty for bad actors who knowingly violate the FOIA.
• Account appropriately for the security of public officials and their minor children, balanced with the public’s right to know how tax dollars are spent.
• Keep the amendment language as simple as possible while taking into account the vast number of laws existing in the Arkansas Code affecting government transparency.