Can an Arkansas county close a criminal justice coordinating committee meeting to the public by calling it 'advisory'?
Plain-English summary
State Senator Greg Leding asked whether the Washington County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, a sixteen-member body the Quorum Court had created on the recommendation of an outside criminal-justice study, was subject to Arkansas open-meeting law. The County Judge had closed CJCC meetings to the public on the theory that the committee was "advisory" rather than "governing," and so not covered by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act's open-meetings rule at Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-106.
The AG's answer reframed the question. The FOIA's open-meetings provision does turn on whether a body is a "governing body," but a different statute, Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109, governs county-created entities specifically and is broader. Section 14-14-109 says every meeting of a county government governing body, board, committee, or any other entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government has to be open to the public. The text reaches all entities the county creates, advisory or otherwise.
Applying that statute, the CJCC was plainly an entity created by Washington County's Quorum Court. Its meetings therefore had to be open. The "advisory" label, even if accurate, did not change the answer. The AG cited the canonical Arkansas rule that a specific statute controls over a general one (Heritage Properties (2019); Comcast of Little Rock (2011)) to explain why § 14-14-109 governs over the more general FOIA open-meetings text.
What this means for you
County quorum courts and county judges
If your county creates a committee, working group, task force, or coordinating body, its meetings have to be open. The label you give the body does not control. § 14-14-109(a) reaches "any . . . entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government." If you want a meeting to be private, the only built-in exception is § 14-14-109(b), which covers personnel matters involving a county official or employee (employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, discipline, dismissal, resignation). Outside that narrow category, closing a county-created body's meetings creates legal risk and feeds the kind of public mistrust that drives litigation.
Members of advisory committees, study groups, or task forces
If your appointing body is a county government, assume your meetings are public meetings. Posting notice, allowing public attendance, and keeping a record are routine. Talk to your county attorney about how to handle confidential information that comes up (for example, individual personnel discussions or attorney-client privileged communications). § 14-14-109(b) gives a path to close part of a meeting for personnel matters, but that path is narrow.
Journalists and citizens
If a county-created body refuses to let you attend a meeting on the theory that it is "only advisory," that argument is weak under Arkansas law. Cite § 14-14-109(a). If the meeting still happens behind closed doors, document the refusal and consider a complaint to the prosecuting attorney or a civil action under FOIA's enforcement provisions. The 2019 AG opinion Op. Att'y Gen. 2019-067, referenced in this opinion, applied the same rule to advisory or administrative boards under § 14-14-705.
Municipal officials
This opinion is specific to county-created bodies under § 14-14-109. Municipal advisory bodies are governed by the FOIA's general open-meetings rule under § 25-19-106(a), which uses different language and turns on whether a body is a "governing body." Read this opinion as confirming the broader county rule rather than as binding authority for cities or school districts.
Common questions
Q: Does the "advisory" label keep a county-created committee out of open-meetings law?
A: No. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109(a), the rule applies to any body, committee, or entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government. The label does not matter.
Q: Why did the AG move the question from FOIA to § 14-14-109?
A: FOIA's open-meetings rule at § 25-19-106 applies to "governing bodies," and there is room to argue an advisory committee is not a governing body. Section 14-14-109 is more specific to county-created entities and uses broader language. Under Arkansas's specific-controls-general rule of statutory construction (Heritage Properties (2019)), the more specific § 14-14-109 governs.
Q: Can a county-created committee ever meet privately?
A: Yes, but only for the personnel matters listed in § 14-14-109(b): employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, dismissal, or resignation of a county official or employee. Anything outside that list has to be discussed in public.
Q: What happens to recommendations the CJCC has already made in closed meetings?
A: The opinion does not address that question. As a practical matter, decisions reached in a meeting that should have been public are vulnerable to challenge under Arkansas FOIA's enforcement mechanism. A safe path is to redo or re-affirm the decision in an open meeting.
Q: Does this opinion apply to municipal study commissions or boards?
A: Not directly. § 14-14-109 is a county statute. Municipal bodies are governed by FOIA's general open-meetings provision and other municipal statutes, and the analysis is different. This opinion does, however, signal a strong Arkansas policy preference for openness.
Q: What if the CJCC just calls itself a "discussion group" with no formal meetings?
A: The substance, not the label, controls. If the body deliberates about county business, has a structure, and was created by county action, it is the kind of entity § 14-14-109 addresses. Calling something an informal discussion does not move it out of the statute.
Q: Is § 14-14-109 enforceable by a private citizen?
A: Section 14-14-109 itself is part of the county-government code and does not contain a private cause of action mirroring the FOIA's enforcement provisions. In practice, FOIA litigation under § 25-19-107 is the typical path when an Arkansas county refuses to open a meeting, and complaints to the prosecuting attorney are another route. Consult an Arkansas FOIA attorney before suing.
Background and statutory framework
Arkansas FOIA's open-meetings rule appears at Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-106. It applies to "governing bodies" of municipalities, counties, townships, school districts, and "all boards, bureaus, commissions, or organizations of the State of Arkansas." That phrasing has produced years of debate over whether advisory or study committees count.
Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109 sits inside the county-government chapter and uses different, broader language: "[a]ll meetings of a county government governing body, board, committee, or any other entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government shall be open to the public." Under this statute, the threshold question is not whether the body is "governing" but whether the county created it. The only carve-out is § 14-14-109(b), which permits closing a meeting (or part of one) for personnel matters involving county officials and employees.
Under Arkansas's settled rule of statutory construction, a specific statute on a particular subject controls over a general one (Heritage Properties Ltd. P'ship v. Walt & Lee Keenihan Found., Inc., 2019 Ark. 371; Comcast of Little Rock, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 2011 Ark. 431). For county-created entities, § 14-14-109 is the specific statute and § 25-19-106 is the general one.
The CJCC was created by the Washington County Quorum Court following recommendations in a National Center for State Courts Criminal Justice Assessment. The body had sixteen members drawn from county courts, prosecutors, public defenders, sheriff's office, probation, mental health, and the public. Whether labeled advisory or governing, it was an entity created by the county and therefore governed by § 14-14-109.
The AG cited Op. Att'y Gen. 2019-067 as a parallel ruling on county "advisory or administrative boards" created under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-705. The same § 14-14-109 analysis applied there.
Citations
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109 (open meetings of county-created entities)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109(b) (personnel-matter exception)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-705 (county advisory or administrative boards)
- Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-106(a) (FOIA open-meetings rule)
- Heritage Properties Ltd. P'ship v. Walt & Lee Keenihan Found., Inc., 2019 Ark. 371, 590 S.W.3d 126
- Comcast of Little Rock, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 2011 Ark. 431, 385 S.W.3d 137
- Op. Att'y Gen. 2019-067 (parallel analysis under § 14-14-705)
Source
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked official source is authoritative.
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Opinion No. 2021-088
May 12, 2022
The Honorable Greg Leding
State Senator
P.O. Box 1445
Fayetteville, AR 72702-1445
Dear Senator Leding:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on whether the Washington County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) is subject to the open-meetings provisions of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-106 (Supp. 2021). In this regard, you have provided the following background information:
In 2019, the Washington County Quorum Court requested an outside, independent study of its entire criminal justice system. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) subsequently conducted a Criminal Justice Assessment (CJA) study which was delivered to the Court in the fall of 2020. One of the many recommendations included in the study was the creation of a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) for the county.
When the CJCC held its first several meetings, the public was permitted to attend (but not participate) via Zoom. Since that time, meetings have been closed to the public by the Washington County Judge Joseph Wood. The County's position is that these meetings are "advisory" in nature and are thus not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act's open-meeting laws.
The CJCC consists of sixteen members . . . : One member of the [Washington County] Quorum Court is on the CJCC; other members include five Washington County Circuit Judges (including the Juvenile Judge and one retired Circuit Judge); the County Attorney; the Washington County Prosecutor (who is chair); the Washington County Public Defender; the Washington County Sheriff; a State Probation Officer; a former Chief of Police; the CEO of Ozark Guidance; the Chief of Police of Prairie Grove, Arkansas; and two community members.
In light of the foregoing information, you have asked the following questions:
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In your opinion, is the CJCC in Washington County an "advisory" board or is it a "governing body?"
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If it is your opinion the CJCC is "advisory," if the CJCC comes to the Washington County Quorum Court for funding to implement any of the recommendations of the CJA, will that make it a de facto governing body, subjecting it to the open meeting law under FOIA?
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In your opinion, does having county decision-making representatives on the board make it a governing body?
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In your opinion, if the CJCC board takes steps to carry out any or all of the recommendations from the NCSC's Criminal Justice Assessment, will it be a governing body under our FOIA laws?
RESPONSE
While you ask about the FOIA, the scenario posed by your questions would be more directly governed by Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109. That provision requires that meetings of county boards, like the one you describe here, be public.
DISCUSSION
Ultimately, you mean to ask whether the CJCC can meet privately or must meet publicly. You have framed your inquiry as a question about the applicability of the FOIA, but Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109 appears more directly applicable. Indeed, that section of the county government code is specifically designed to address county-created entities, like you describe here.
Section 14-14-109 requires that "[a]ll meetings of a county government governing body, board, committee, or any other entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government shall be open to the public." That statute's coverage is not limited to "governing" bodies in contrast to the FOIA. Instead, it is much broader, and particularly relevant here, it applies "any . . . entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government."
Applying that standard to your description of the CJCC, it is apparent that this committee is an "entity created by, or subordinate to, a county government." Consequently, under section 14-14-109, the CJCC's meeting must be open to the public.
Sincerely,
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General
Footnotes:
1. See Heritage Properties Ltd. P'ship v. Walt & Lee Keenihan Found., Inc., 2019 Ark. 371, *8, 590 S.W.3d 126, 131 ("This court has long held that a general statute must yield to a specific statute involving a particular subject matter[,]" quoting Comcast of Little Rock, Inc. v. Bradshaw, 2011 Ark. 431, 385 S.W.3d 137).
2. Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109(a) (Repl. 2013). An exception to this open-meetings requirement is made for meetings, or portions of meetings, that involve or affect "the employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, dismissal, or resignation of a county government official or employee . . . ." Id. at § 14-14-109(b).
3. See id. at § 25-19-106(a) (Supp. 2021) ("[A]ll meetings . . . of the governing bodies of all municipalities, counties, township, and school districts and all boards, bureaus, commissions, or organizations of the State of Arkansas . . . shall be public meetings.") (emphasis added).
4. Similarly, in Op. Att'y Gen. 2019-067 referenced in your correspondence, the questions focused strictly on the FOIA's applicability to county "advisory or administrative boards" created pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-705. The discussion herein of Ark. Code Ann. § 14-14-109 equally applies to the county boards addressed in that opinion.