Judges: DUSTIN McDANIEL, Attorney General
Filed Date: 8/31/2009
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Will Feland Prosecuting Attorney Twenty-Third Judicial District
301 N. Center, Suite 301 Lonoke, Arkansas 72086
Dear Mr. Feland:
I am writing in response to your request for an opinion on the following question concerning the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), A.C.A. §§
Do emails from a school board member addressed to the school superintendent and copied on at least one other board member fall under the disclosure requirements of FOIA?
RESPONSE
Although you have provided no additional information concerning the e-mails, I assume from the fact that they were directed from one school official to another (or others) that they relate in some way to school matters so as to constitute a record of official functions. With this assumption in mind, the answer to your question is "yes," in my opinion, unless a specific exemption prevents their disclosure.
It has been stated that for a record to be subject to the FOIA and available to the public, it must be: (1) possessed by an entity covered by the FOIA, (2) fall within the FOIA's definition of a public record, and (3) not be exempted by the FOIA or other statutes. Nabholz Construction Corp. v. Contractors forPublic Protection Assn.,
School board members and a superintendent, as school officials, are certainly entities covered by the act. Cf. Op. Att'y Gen.
The definition of "public records" is found at A.C.A. §
"Public records" means writings, recorded sounds, films, tapes, electronic or computer-based information, or data compilations in any medium, required by law to be kept or otherwise kept, and which constitute a record of the performance or lack of performance of official functions which are or should be carried out by a public official or employee, a governmental agency, or any other agency wholly or partially supported by public funds or expending public funds. All records maintained in public offices or by public employees within the scope of their employment shall be presumed to be public records.
Given that the e-mails in question are kept by school officials and the subject matter presumably involves school business, I believe they clearly qualify as a "public records" under this definition.Accord Op. Att'y Gen.
As I have previously explained, quoting one of my predecessors:
If records fit within the definition of "public records". . ., they are open to public inspection and copying under the FOIA except to the extent they are covered by a specific exemption in that Act or some other pertinent law.
Op. Att'y Gen.
You have presented no information suggesting that the e-mails in question are subject to any exemption under the FOIA or any other law. In my opinion, the emails constitute "public records" under the FOIA. As such, they are subject to disclosure absent facts, of which I have not been made aware, requiring nondisclosure on the grounds of an exemption.2
Deputy Attorney General Elisabeth A. Walker prepared the foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
DUSTIN McDANIEL Attorney General
*Page 1
Bradford v. Director, Employment Security Department , 83 Ark. App. 332 ( 2003 )
Legislative Joint Auditing Committee v. Woosley , 291 Ark. 89 ( 1987 )
Nabholz Construction Corp. v. Contractors for Public ... , 371 Ark. 411 ( 2007 )
Pulaski County v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. , 370 Ark. 435 ( 2007 )