Posted on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 at 1:22 pm
In an opinion piece on Arkansas Online, author Mike Masterson discusses McCutchen Napurano - The Law Firm attorney Joey McCutchen’s involvement in a potential action against the Fort Smith School Board. An excerpt from the article is included below:
“The recent decision by a circuit court judge that found the Fort Smith School Board violated the Freedom of Information Act by conducting official business via emails has led to a similar lawsuit alleging city departments have been doing the same thing.
The “transparency tenacious” attorney Joey McCutchen now has trained his sights on the city board, claiming it is transacting business via email without required public notice and outside the public eye.
The suit on behalf of Fort Smith resident Bruce Wade alleges the law was violated in a series of emails “regarding the Police Department and Civil Service Commission disseminated by two Fort Smith City Directors to the entire Board of Directors between May 21, 2017, and May 31, 2017.”
McCutchen said “the emails demonstrate a pattern of engaging in secret discussions about matters that are required to occur in a public meeting. There was no notice of the meetings and the public was deprived of the opportunity to participate and view the discussions.”
I’ve previously said it wouldn’t surprise me if municipal boards and public commissions subject to the Freedom of Information Act were doing considerable public business in this manner statewide. So what’s happening in your own community?”
To read the entire article, visit the Arkansas Online website here.
