PEA RIDGE — “Then FOI me”: Those are words we hear all the time when we ask public officials for information.
Problem is, FOI is not a verb.
It is a reference to a law - the Freedom of Information Act - enacted nationally in 1966 and amended over the years, including a 1996 amendment - Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments.
In Arkansas, the Freedom of Information Act, was approved as Act 93 in 1967 and amended several times as well.
When a someone - a citizen or a representative of a newspaper - asks a public official for records, the simple act of asking is covered by the law.
Any request, verbal or written, for public records is legally sufficient to compel the public official,whose salary is paid by the taxes citizens pay, to provide those records. State and federal law supports this.
The FOI is designed to allow the public - that means all citizens - access to public information.
We are blessed to live in our community and in our free country. We should not take those blessings for granted.
Neither the state law nor the U.S. Department of Justice require a special form, but do require that requests be made in writing.
“Some people believe the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act is available foruse only by the news media and attorneys - one common misconception among many,” wrote Mark A. Hinueber, counsel for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers’ daily and weekly publications. “The 1967 law is available for use by any Arkansan and requires no complicated forms to be filled out or letters to be written to gain access to public documents.
Oral requests are sufficient.”
Hinueber continues: “A misconception widely held by public officials is that they have three days to answer a request for any public document. Without mention of any waiting period, the FOIA provides that all public records ‘shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the regular business hours of the custodian of records.’”
According to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act: “Reasonable access to public records and reasonable comforts and facilities for the full exercise of the right to inspect and copy those records shall not be denied to any citizen.
“If a public record is in active use or storage and, therefore, not available at the time a citizen asks to examine it, the custodian shall certify this fact in writing to the applicant and set a date and hour within three (3) working days, at which time the record will be available for the exercise of the right given by this chapter.”
The TIMES of Northeast Benton County applauds those public officials who are transparent and forthcoming with information and encourages those who aren’t to recognize they are guardians of the public trust.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 04/14/2010