Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103

Section 25-19-103(1) requires direct public funding—government money—to bring a private organization within the FOIA; indirect government benefits do not suffice.

Sebastian County Chapter of the American Red Cross v. Weatherford · filed 1993-02-01(1)

As defined by Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(1) (Repl. 1992), “public records” means writings and other documentation “required by law to be kept or otherwise kept, and which constitute a record of the performance of 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.” (Emphasis supplied.) ... The plain language of the FOIA confirms that the General Assembly intended that direct public funding be required. As previously noted, the FOIA applies to private entities “supported wholly or in part by public funds.” Had the General Assembly intended to extend the FOIA to private organizations that receive any form of government assistance or subsidy, no matter how indirect, it would not have used the words “supported ... by public funds” to describe the nature of support necessary to trigger the Act.

Section 25-19-103(1) treats legal memoranda prepared by outside counsel for a city as public records when they evaluate the performance and decisions of public officials.

City of Fayetteville v. Edmark · filed 1990-12-17(1)

The memoranda include extensive evaluations of the propriety of the decisions and actions undertaken by City and Authority officials. For example, one document details the specifics in which the final contract varies from the terms approved by the City’s board of directors. Another record analyzes the constitutionality of the City’s undertaking to unconditionally guarantee the bonds issued by a separate entity, i.e., the Authority. The memoranda clearly could be used to evaluate the performances and decisions of the city officials, the city attorney, and Authority officials. ... Consequently, we hold that legal memoranda prepared by outside counsel for the City for litigation purposes are public records within the meaning of FOIA.

Section 25-19-103(1) covers a state police investigative file as a public record under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansas Gazette Co. v. Goodwin · filed 1990-12-21(1)

The state police investigative file clearly constitutes a public record under the FOIA and as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(1) (1987).

Section 25-19-103(1) presumes that records kept within the scope of public employment are public records.

Young v. Rice · filed 1992-03-09(1)

Under our FOIA, records kept in the scope of public employment are presumed to be public records. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(1) (1987).

Section 25-19-103(1) treats records required by law to be kept by a public agency as public records under the Freedom of Information Act.

Furman v. Holloway · filed 1993-03-22(1)

“Public records” means writings, recorded sounds, films, tapes, or data compilations in any form, 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. ... Clearly the records appellee requests are “public records” under our FOIA since they are required to be kept by law. Ark. Code. Ann. § 25-19-103(1).

Section 25-19-103(1) defines public records to include records maintained by public offices or employees that contain information about the performance or lack of performance of official functions.

Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration v. Pharmacy Associates, Inc. · filed 1998-06-04(1)

The term “public records” is defined to include all records maintained in public offices or by public employees that contain information about the performance or lack of performance of official functions.

Section 25-19-103 treats a document as a public record when it is otherwise kept and records an official function, even if created with a private account, and defines its custodian by administrative control, which can include the supervising public official responsible for arranging access.

Fox v. Perroni · filed 2004-06-24(5)(A), (1)(A)

The definition of “public record” under the FOIA is not dependent upon who keeps the record or where it is kept — just that it either is required to be kept or is otherwise kept. Here, though there appears to have been no requirement to keep the check, the check was indisputably “otherwise kept” by Mr. Eanes’s bank, and is available, for a fee, to Mr. Eanes, the public employee who wrote the check. ... In light of our previous opinions and our liberal construction in favor of disclosure, we cannot say the trial court’s interpretation of the term “administrative control” is in error. As Judge Fox is the public official charged with the responsibility of managing the affairs and conduct of his office, we hold that the trial court correctly ruled that Judge Fox was the custodian of Mr. Eanes’s check with both the power and responsibility under the FOIA to either provide a copy of the canceled check to Mr. James or to make arrangements for reasonable access to the check.

Section 25-19-103(5)(A) defines public records as records of official functions kept in any medium, and section 25-19-103(3) defines a medium as a physical form or material on which records or information may be stored; an organic seed sample is neither.

Nolan v. Little · filed 2004-10-14(5)(A), (3)

A seed sample does not meet the definition of a “public record,” because it cannot be said to be an object “on which records and information may be stored or represented.” Although the list of items that can be mediums is not exhaustive, it does not contain a seed or any other organic object. Moreover, the various items that constitute a “public record” are writings, recorded sounds, films, tapes, electronic or computer-based information, and data compilations in any medium. “Mediums” are paper, microfilm, microform, computer disks and diskettes, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. Giving the words of the statute their plain and ordinary meaning as required by the rules of statutory construction, a seed sample does not constitute a “public record,” nor does it fall within the definition of a medium. Our interpretation is consistent with the provisions of the entire Act, which provides for all public records to be open to “inspection and copying” by any citizen. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105(a)(1). Removal and destructive testing of seed samples go far beyond the inspection and copying of public records.

Section 25-19-103(5)(A) defines public records by their content and connection to official functions; records kept in public offices or by public employees are presumed public, but that presumption is evaluated case by case.

Pulaski County v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. · filed 2007-07-20(5)(A)

We agree with the circuit court’s conclusion that not all e-mails on Pulaski County computers are public records, and that even with the statutory presumption, it is still necessary to examine the facts concerning e-mails on a case-by-case basis. However, we hold that in this particular case, it is necessary to conduct an in camera review of the e-mails to discern whether these e-mails relate solely to personal matters or whether they reflect a substantial nexus with Pulaski County’s activities, thereby classifying them as public records. ... Accordingly, we remand this case to the circuit court with instruction to conduct an in camera review to determine if these e-mails “constitute a record of the performance of official functions that are or should be carried out by a public official or employee” thereby making them “public records” pursuant to the FOIA.

Section 25-19-103(5)(A) covers emails that record the performance or nonperformance of official functions by public officials or employees.

Pulaski County v. ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, INC. · filed 2007-08-22(5)(A)

They failed to meet their burden, and as a consequence, the circuit court properly held all of the emails at issue were presumed public records, as provided in the FOIA. See Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103 (5) (A) (Supp. 2005).

Section 25-19-103(7)(A) defines public records broadly enough to encompass emails.

City of Fort Smith v. Wade · filed 2019-06-20(7)(A)

The General Assembly has adopted a broad definition of "public records" that unquestionably encompasses emails as public records.

Section 25-19-103(1) treats records of official votes kept by a publicly funded organization as public records.

Depoyster v. Cole · filed 1989-03-13(1)

The recorded votes of individual members of the executive committee of the AAA obviously constitute a record of the performance or lack of performance of official functions carried out by the AAA, and there was testimony that it was the general practice of the AAA to retain mail-out ballots used in voting on matters coming before the AAA. The vote slips at issue, being records generally or otherwise kept by the AAA, therefore constituted public records which should have been retained.

Section 25-19-103(1) includes police crime scene and pathologist photographs kept as evidence within the definition of public records.

McCambridge v. City of Little Rock · filed 1989-03-13(1)

Police crime scene photographs and pathologist photographs are obviously “otherwise kept” for evidence in criminal cases as an “official function” of a police department. A citizen could examine crime scene photographs and pathologist photographs and, to some extent, evaluate the performance of a police department. The photos are public records and subject to the act.

Section 25-19-103(7)(A) defines public records to include records required by law to be kept or otherwise kept.

Pitchford v. City of Earle · filed 2019-05-01(7)(A)

Our FOIA statutes define what public records are, and the definition includes those records that are "required by law to be kept or otherwise kept." ... We defer to any credibility determinations made by the circuit court, Pitchford failed to prove that the adding-machine tape was required to be kept, and thus Pitchford has failed to demonstrate clear error on this point.

Section 25-19-103(7)(A) requires reviewing each record’s content to decide whether it reflects official functions and qualifies as a public record.

MARK MYERS AND JANE DOE v. AMY FECHER, IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF TRANSFORMATION AND SHARED SERVICES, ARKA · filed 2021-12-16(7)(A)

However, in reviewing the plain language of Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(7)(A), the content of each record considered for disclosure must be reviewed to determine whether it reflects “the performance or lack of performance of official functions that are or should be carried out by ... a public official or employee” and therefore qualifies as a “public record.”

Subsection (1) treats records established as public records, unless otherwise exempt, as subject to the Arkansas FOIA's access requirements.

Swaney v. Tilford · filed 1995-05-30(1)

We hold that where the records in question are established as “public records” pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103 (1) and not otherwise exempted from disclosure, the appropriate governmental agency, in this case the ADFA, shall have the responsibility to provide reasonable access for examination and copying of such public records which are in existence at the time of the request, as provided by Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105.

Section 25-19-103 defines a record’s medium as its physical form and its format as the arrangement of electronic information.

Pulaski Cnty. Special Sch. Dist. v. Delaney · filed 2019-04-10(3)-(4)

"Medium" means the physical form or material on which records and information may be stored or represented and may include, but is not limited to, paper, microfilm, microform, computer disks and diskettes, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(4). ... "Format" means the organization, arrangement, and form of electronic information for use, viewing, or storage. Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-103(3). ... Based on these definitions, we divide Delaney's request into two categories: electronic records and paper records.

A person who holds public records solely to store, safeguard, or process them for others is not their custodian under FOIA.

Apprentice Info. Sys., Inc. v. Datascout, LLC · filed 2018-04-26(1)(B)

FOIA provides that " '[c]ustodian' does not mean a person who holds public records solely for the purposes of storage, safekeeping, or data processing for others." ... As we held in Nabholz , DataScout cannot sue AIS alone under FOIA and direct AIS to produce public records because it is a private corporation and is not the custodian of the public records.