FORT SMITH - City, county, state and federal officials, along with members of the media and public, took advantage of a workshop Thursday to gain a greater understanding of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
The Arkansas attorney general’s office and the Arkansas Press Association hosted a Freedom of Information Act road show to give an in-depth presentation on the act and to answer questions from the 50 people who attended the workshop on the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith campus.
Among those represented at Thursday’s workshop were with the city of Fort Smith, Crawford and Sebastian county sheriff’s offices, Sebastian and Franklin county quorum courts, the U.S. attorney’s office, and the Crawford County Circuit Clerk’s office.
“We assist everyone from school board members to higher ed to Game and Fish folks and anyone else that may need a better working knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act,” Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Thursday.
The attorney general’s office and the Arkansas Press Association have been hosting the workshops in different parts of the state for the past several years. Another workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today at the Shewmaker Center on the campus of Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.
Workshop coordinator Aaron Sadler with the attorney general’s off ice said workshops also were planned this year for Jonesboro, Little Rock and Texarkana.
The workshop was divided into three segments. Arkansas Deputy Attorney General Beth Walker talked about the open meetings portion of the act while Assistant Attorney General Ryan Owsley made a presentation about open records. Fort Smith City Attorney Jerry Canfield, Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue, Times Record newspaper city editorJudith Hansen, and journalist and Freedom of Information Act advocate Amy Sherrill formed a panel that discussed the act.
Press association executive director Tom Larimer said he believes the workshops raise the awareness of the responsibilities public officials have under the act. They also give the public an idea of what their rights are under the act.
By the questions people asked, he said, it seemed some people gained more of an understanding of the actThursday and some may have had misunderstandings dispelled.
“There always seems to be lights-come-on type moments during these sessions,” he said. “And that’s part of the value too.”
Questions raised included whether officials in executive sessions are free to disclose what went on in the sessions - they are - and whether the firing of a police officer could be disclosed under the act before his civil service commission appeals were exhausted - it cannot.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/27/2013