A dispute over how several Arkansas Freedom of Information Act requests should be handled has led to a blogger suing the Baxter County Judge.
Little Rock attorney Matt Campbell, who blogs as the Blue Hog Report, filed a lawsuit against County Judge Mickey Pendergrass on Friday afternoon after the two disagreed over how several FOIA requests submitted to the county earlier that week should proceed.
On June 1, Campbell sent a FOIA request to Pendergrass asking for electronic copies of the title of every vehicle owned by the county. According to Campbell’s request, those copies should be emailed to him.
Pendergrass responded later that day that the county’s vehicle titles were not currently available in electronic form. Instead, the titles were available to be viewed by appointment Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If any records needed to be scanned and transmitted electronically, Campbell would be charged $15 an hour for the labor involved.
The blogger replied that FOIA does not allow those requesting records to be charged for the time spent scanning records, that the person making the request was not required to first come examine the records and that the county judge could not require someone making an FOIA request to make an appointment before they could view public records.
Campbell said that since the judge had indicated that the records were there on hand at the courthouse, that he expected electronic copies emailed to him before the close of business on June 2. The complaint in Campbell’s lawsuit notes that as of the time of filing the lawsuit against Pendergrass, the blogger was still awaiting those documents.
Campbell sent a second FOIA request to Pendergrass on June 2, this time requesting electronic copies of all county credit cards from Jan. 1, 2014, to the present on which Pendergrass was an authorized user or signer; all gas card statements from Jan. 1, 2014, to the present on which the county judge was an authorized user or signer; and all monthly cell phone statements from Jan. 1, 2014, to the present for any cell phone used by Pendergrass that is paid whole or in part by county funds.
Campbell notes in his lawsuit’s complaint that as of Friday afternoon, the county judge has yet to respond to this request or provided those records.
Under Arkansas law, the Baxter County Circuit Court must hear a FOIA complaint and determine its outcome within seven days of complaint being filed with the court.
Campbell asks the court to order Pendergrass to provide the requested documents electronically and for Baxter County to cover his court costs.
In FOIA complaints, the county prosecutor reviews the matter and can decide if criminal charges should apply to the government officials involved in the case. Campbell’s complaint notes that as Pendergrass’ defense attorney is likely to be the county prosecutor, he does not expect that the county judge would face any criminal charges stemming from not responding to the FOIA requests.
State law provides that Arkansans are entitled to examine or receive copies of any public record during the regular business hours of the custodian of those records. Under the FOIA, a custodian of records is a person who has administrative control over that record.
Arkansas law identifies county judges as the chief executive officer for that county, and the Arkansas Constitution grants a county judge custody over county property.
Campbell’s lawsuit argues that county records are tangible personal property and since the county judge has possession of those records, that official is the custodian of those records.
State law requires that if a person who receives an FOIA request is not the custodian of records, that person must notify the requester and identify the custodian, if known or readily ascertainable by the person.
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