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 include[d] in the study was the creation of a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) for the county.
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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.
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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:
1. In your opinion, is the CJCC in Washington County an “advisory” board or is it a “governing body?”
2. 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?
3. In your opinion, does having county decision-making representatives on the board make it a governing body?
4. 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. [1]
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.”[2] That statute’s coverage is not limited to “governing” bodies in contrast to the FOIA.[3] 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.[4]
Sincerely,
Leslie Rutledge
Attorney General
[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.