LITTLE ROCK - The Supreme Court of Arkansas today ruled in favor of the City in the landmark Arkansas Freedom of Information (FOIA) case, “City of Fort Smith v. Bruce Wade.”
“The City of Fort Smith now and always respects and champions Arkansas’ ‘Sunshine Law,’” City Administrator Carl E. Geffken said today, reacting to the high court’s decision.
“Administration, staff, and the Board respect and are committed to upholding the people’s rights, the people’s will, and the spirit of the FOIA law in open, representative municipal government,” Geffken said.
The state’s highest court today issued a ruling overturning the 2018 Sebastian County Circuit Court finding that said the City had violated Arkansas FOIA’s open, public meeting provisions via email. The original complaint from Fort Smith resident Bruce Wade, represented against the City by attorney Joey McCutchen, asserted that Geffken and Board of Directors members Keith Lau, Mike Lorenz (former), and André Good in a 2017 email exchange about the City’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) had circumvented FOIA’s public meeting requirements, in effect, holding a closed, non-public meeting via email. The Supreme Court disagreed.
“We were confident the court would find in our favor because we did follow the law. We appreciate this vindication, and we will continue to do the right thing; to abide by all requirements for open, public meetings and public records.
“We know this government doesn’t belong to us,” Geffken said, “it belongs to the people. And, we know it’s wrong for any individual or small group of privileged individuals to dictate and dominate, superseding the lawful processes set forth by and for the people. We will continue our work to ensure that our actions reflect and are in the best interest of the people for whom we work.”
The high court today determined that Geffken had appropriately, in his role as City Administrator, emailed Board of Directors members, outlining possible Board options regarding the CSC. At the time, then-new Chief of Police Nathaniel Clark requested the CSC’s approval to allow qualified applicants from other law enforcement agencies to apply alongside internal applicants for the positions of Sergeant, the newly-created Lieutenant, Captain, and the Deputy Chief (formerly Major) position. Two of the seven Board members had “replied all” expressing favor for an option. A third Director added affirmation a couple of days later.
When the Board subsequently considered changes to the CSC, all discussions, decision, and voting were held in public meetings and, ultimately, not all were approved.
Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Action (FOIA), originally passed in 1967, is called the “Sunshine Law” because it is intended to “shine light” on governmental processes that, without provisions of the law, might be conducted “in the dark,” without the visibility and oversight of the people or their representative authorities.
