A judge on Tuesday dismissed a complaint by Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance against the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette seeking a declaratory judgment in a dispute with the newspaper over document requests.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza granted a motion by the newspaper's attorneys to dismiss the complaint during an afternoon hearing.
The complaint, filed June 24, asked for a declaratory judgment resolving differences between the housing alliance and the newspaper in interpreting the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Beginning in the summer of 2014, the housing alliance either responded incompletely or not at all to several records requests made by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act about executive hires, tenant complaints and work orders for housing-unit repairs.
Last October, the housing alliance sent the Democrat-Gazette an estimate of $16,378 that the agency said it would cost to hire temporary workers and buy extra supplies to comply with one of the newspaper's information requests.
The complaint said the two parties differed as to whether, under the Freedom of Information Act, the housing alliance could charge the newspaper "the cost of personnel other than existing agency personnel associated with searching for, retrieving, reviewing or copying the records."
The newspaper's July 10 motion to dismiss stated there wasn't a "justiciable controversy between [the housing alliance and the newspaper] because there are no outstanding FOIA requests."
The motion also argued that the housing alliance's declaratory judgment action was "an attempt to circumvent established procedures governing" the state's Freedom of Information Act.
"Arkansas law does not permit a state agency like [Metropolitan Housing Alliance] to bring a declaratory judgment action against a FOIA requester," the motion stated. "To do so would be contrary to, and would completely undermine the FOIA."
The dismissal motion also noted that any ruling from the court on the alliance's declaratory judgment would "purely be an advisory opinion."
After an approximately 40-minute hearing, Piazza agreed with attorneys representing the newspaper and dismissed the complaint.
Separate from Tuesday's decision, housing alliance Director Rodney Forte is appealing a misdemeanor conviction in June in Little Rock District Court over his failure to respond to information requests from the newspaper within three working days, as mandated by state law.
A jury trial is set for Nov. 4 in that case.
State Desk on 10/14/2015