FORT SMITH — A prosecutor says officials of a western Arkansas city violated the Freedom of Information Act by discussing city business in emails.
Prosecutor Dan Shue said in a letter to the Fort Smith Board of Directors that the public should be privy to all board discussions. The letter doesn't say if Shue intends to prosecute.
The Southwest Times Record reports that attorney Joey McCutchen filed two FOIA lawsuits on behalf of a resident. One is against the city, and the other is against City Directors Keith Lau, Andre Good and Mike Lorenz.
The lawsuits allege that emails directors exchanged discussing city business amounted to an unlawful meeting. The lawsuits ask the court to stop directors from conducting business out of public view.
Lau and Lorenz have said the law isn't clear about what defines a formal meeting.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.