Arkansas Freedom of Information Act: Records & Meetings

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act gives any Arkansas citizen the right to inspect government records and attend meetings of public bodies, from city council emails to school board budget sessions. You do not need a lawyer, a special form, or a reason. If an agency refuses, you can seek an Attorney General opinion or file suit, and the agency can be ordered to pay your attorney’s fees. The 2025 legislative session added new rules for remote meetings, serial communications between officials, and recordings through Act 505.¹

What Records You Can Get

The definition of a public record is deliberately wide. Under Arkansas Code 25-19-103(7)(A), a public record is any writing, recording, film, electronic file, or data compilation that documents how a government body carries out its official duties. Emails, text messages, spreadsheets, databases, and work-related social media posts all qualify. If a document is kept by a public agency or by an employee doing official work, the law presumes it is public.²

The reach goes past government offices. Any agency or organization wholly or partially supported by public funds is covered. Private contractors doing government work can be covered too. In City of Fayetteville v. Edmark, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that legal memoranda written by a private law firm hired by the city were subject to FOIA because the firm was paid with public funds to perform a government function.³

Personal devices do not shield government business. When a public employee sends or receives texts or emails about official matters on a personal phone, those messages are public records of the employer. Content, not the device, controls.

How to Make a Request

Requests can be verbal or written. You do not have to explain why you want the records, and the custodian cannot deny access based on who you are or what you plan to do with the information. Writing the request down is still smart because it creates a paper trail if the agency drags its feet.⁴

One eligibility limit matters. The statute grants access to “any citizen of the State of Arkansas.” People incarcerated after a felony conviction are specifically excluded, though their attorneys can request disclosable records on their behalf.⁴

Records must be available during regular business hours. If the records you want are not in active use or storage, the custodian must produce them immediately. You can inspect documents in person at no charge, and you can photograph or digitally record them yourself for free. If the records exist electronically, the agency must provide them in a reasonably accessible electronic format.⁴

For personnel and evaluation records, the custodian has 24 hours from receiving your request to decide whether the records are exempt, and must try to notify both you and the person whose records are at issue.⁵

What Copies Cost

Agencies can charge for copies, but fees cannot exceed the actual cost of reproduction. That means paper, toner, discs or other media, plus mailing or transmission costs. It does not include staff time spent searching, retrieving, reviewing, or copying. If you inspect records in person and photograph them yourself, the agency cannot charge you anything.⁴

When the estimated fee exceeds $25, the custodian can require payment in advance before copying begins. You are entitled to an itemized breakdown of the charges.⁴

Fee waivers are available. If you are requesting records primarily for noncommercial purposes and the custodian decides that waiving or reducing the fee serves the public interest, copies can be free or discounted. Journalists and researchers often qualify. Fees that clearly exceed actual costs can be challenged in court.

Meetings You Can Attend

Every formal or informal gathering of a public body supported by public funds must be open. That covers city councils, county boards, school districts, state commissions, and any other body spending public money. A meeting does not have to involve a vote. Any gathering where members discuss official business triggers the open-meetings rule.⁶

Act 505 tightened the definitions in 2025. A “deliberation” is now defined as any exchange between two or more members of a governing body that seeks or discloses how a member intends to decide or vote on a matter the body will foreseeably take action on. A “poll” captures situations where a staff member or agent contacts members individually to gauge their positions on upcoming votes. Both deliberations and polls conducted outside a public meeting violate the act.¹

Serial one-on-one contacts are a common trap. In Harris v. City of Fort Smith, a city administrator contacted each board member individually to secure approval for a confidential land purchase bid. The Arkansas Supreme Court held that these sequential conversations amounted to an informal meeting of the board and violated FOIA because the public received no notice and had no chance to observe the deliberation.⁷

Notice

Regular meeting times and places must be furnished to anyone who asks. For emergency or special meetings, the person calling the meeting must notify newspapers, radio stations, and television stations in the county at least two hours before start time, including the time, place, and date.⁶

Remote and Hybrid Meetings

Act 505 formally brings remote gatherings under the act. A “public meeting” now includes meetings held by telephone, video conference, or video broadcast. When a body meets remotely, it must ensure the public can attend and hear all meaningful discussion of official business in real time. Public meetings must also be recorded.¹

When Officials Can Close a Meeting

Executive sessions are the narrow exception, and officials often misread them. Arkansas law allows a closed session in only three circumstances:

Personnel matters involving the employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline, or resignation of a specific public officer or employee.
State boards and commissions preparing examination materials for professional licensure applicants.
Evaluations involving public water system or municipally owned utility system security.

Before going into executive session, the body must publicly announce the specific purpose. Only a limited group may attend a personnel-related session: the agency’s top administrator, the employee’s immediate supervisor, and the employee being discussed. No vote, resolution, contract, or other official action taken in executive session is legal. The body must reconvene in public and vote openly on any action.⁶

The statute is blunt: executive sessions “must never be called for the purpose of defeating the reason or the spirit” of the open-meetings law. Using one to discuss budgets, policy disputes, or pending contracts violates the act, even if no one in the room objects.⁶

What Agencies Can Withhold

The act lists specific categories of records that are not open to the public. Courts read these exemptions narrowly, and the agency carries the burden of proving one applies.

Personnel and Evaluation Records

Personnel records are exempt only to the extent that releasing them would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Routine employment information like job titles, salaries, and hiring dates generally does not clear that bar and stays public.⁴

Employee evaluations and job performance records are treated more protectively. They become open only after the final resolution of a suspension or termination proceeding where the evaluation was part of the basis for the decision, and only if there is a compelling public interest in disclosure. In Young v. Rice, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the exemption for assessment center evaluation materials from a police promotion exam, finding that releasing those records with candidates’ names attached would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.⁸

Employees always have the right to see their own personnel and evaluation records, or to designate a representative to access them.⁴

Law Enforcement Records

Undisclosed investigations of suspected criminal activity are exempt. Once the investigation ends, most records generally become available unless another exemption applies. In McCambridge v. City of Little Rock, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected an attempt to withhold crime scene photographs, holding that they were public records and that the city could not invent exemptions beyond those in the statute.⁹

Financial and Proprietary Records

Files that would give an advantage to competitors or bidders are exempt. That covers competitive bid documents before a contract is awarded, and proprietary business information submitted to agencies like the Arkansas Economic Development Commission for planning, site location, or product development. Records of actual government expenditures and grants remain public even when underlying business records are shielded.⁴

Other Exempt Categories

The statute also exempts state income tax records, medical and adoption records, education records protected by federal law (FERPA), grand jury minutes, unpublished judicial opinions, working papers of the Governor and other constitutional officers, records sealed by court order, and computer security measures. If a record does not clearly fit one of these categories, the default is disclosure.⁴

Federal Laws That Override FOIA

Federal privacy statutes can block records that would otherwise be public under state law. FERPA covers education records. Federal rules carve out medical and adoption records. Motor vehicle records are controlled by the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which bars state DMVs from releasing personal information without the driver’s consent.¹⁰ When an agency cites federal law to withhold records, ask the custodian to name the specific statute. A vague reference to “federal privacy concerns” is not a valid basis for denial.

What to Do If You’re Denied

If a custodian denies your request or ignores it, you have two practical paths.

Attorney General Opinion

For disputes over personnel or evaluation records, the custodian, the requester, or the subject of the records can ask the Attorney General for an opinion on whether the custodian’s decision is consistent with the act. The Attorney General must respond within three working days, and the records stay confidential while the opinion is pending. These opinions are not binding, but courts treat them as persuasive and agencies often follow them to avoid litigation.⁵

Lawsuit in Circuit Court

Any citizen denied rights under the act can sue in circuit court. For disputes with a state agency, you can file in Pulaski County Circuit Court or in the circuit court where you live. For disputes with a county, city, township, or school district, you file in the appropriate judicial district. The court must schedule a hearing within seven days of receiving the petition, which keeps agencies from running out the clock.¹¹

The judge can review the disputed records privately to decide whether they should be released. Officials who refuse to comply with a court order face contempt. If you substantially prevail, the court will assess reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses against the agency unless the agency’s position was substantially justified. That fee-shifting rule makes stonewalling expensive.¹¹

Penalties for Violations

Anyone who negligently violates any provision of the act commits a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.¹²¹³ The threshold is “negligently,” not “knowingly” or “intentionally.” A custodian who carelessly ignores a request can face criminal liability even without deliberate intent to obstruct.

1
Arkansas General Assembly. Arkansas Act 505 of 2025 – Amendment to the Freedom of Information Act of 1967
2
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-19-103 – Definitions
3
Justia. City of Fayetteville v Edmark
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-19-105 – Examination and Copying of Public Records
5
Arkansas Department of Public Safety. Arkansas Freedom of Information Handbook
6
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-19-106 – Open Public Meetings
7
Justia. David Harris v City of Fort Smith
8
Justia. Young v Rice
9
Justia. McCambridge v Little Rock
10
EPIC – Electronic Privacy Information Center. The Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and the Privacy of Your State Motor Vehicle Record
11
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-19-107 – Appeal From Denial of Rights – Attorneys Fees
12
Justia. Arkansas Code 25-19-104 – Penalty
13
Justia. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence