A coalition of government transparency advocates has drafted a proposed amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that would enshrine the state Freedom of Information Act as it existed before lawmakers weakened it in a special legislative session last month.
The group, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, said the proposal would ensure that any further changes to the FOIA would only be approved by voters, while still allowing the Legislature to pass laws that increase government transparency.
One of the few changes proposed would be to provide a definition for “public meeting,” clarifying what has been a source of contention between government officials and records-seekers. The amendment would also create a penalty for those who knowingly violate the FOIA, and it would protect a citizen’s ability to recover attorney’s fees if a FOIA request is wrongfully denied.
The coalition has five members with varying political views who say their shared goal is to “preserve and protect government transparency in Arkansas and to put its future in the hands of the people of Arkansas.”
They are:
- Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock
- Former state Rep. Nate Bell, a Republican-turned-independent
- Little Rock lawyer and policymaker David Couch
- Law professor and newspaper columnist Robert Steinbuch
- Bentonville lawyer Jen Standefer
- Little Rock lawyer John Tull III
- Ashley Wimberley, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association
To make the 2024 ballot, Attorney General Tim Griffin needs to approve the ballot language and the coalition then needs to gather 90,704 valid voter signatures in support of the measure.
“We understand the importance of getting this language right and look forward to receiving feedback on the amendment,” the group said in a statement.
The proposed amendment comes after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, with the help of the state’s Republican supermajority, signed into law a measure blocking access to the governor’s travel and security records. Sanders retreated from a proposal with much broader restrictions after a wave of public backlash, but called the law she signed a “good starting point.”
Sanders signed the law a few months after Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, in a separate proposal during the 2023 regular session, tried to expand exemptions to the FOIA and allow the government to charge the public for providing records, one of many attempts to erode the “sunshine law” over the years.
Sanders currently faces questions — and possibly a legislative audit —after public records revealed that her office used a government credit card to purchase a $19,000 lectern. Little Rock lawyer and blogger Matt Campbell uncovered the purchase.
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