Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley has informed Jacksonville city officials that an Aug. 15 meeting involving three City Council members likely violated Arkansas' open meetings law.
The prosecutor recommended that city officials get more education about the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and warned against any future violations.
"Any future FOIA violation will not be greeted with leniency by this office," Jegley's letter concluded.
The prosecutor could have levied criminal charges. Violation of the public-records and open-meetings law is a Class C misdemeanor, the least serious in Arkansas law and punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.
Council Member Tara Smith has acknowledged meeting with fellow members Gary Sipes, Mary Twitty and three city police captains on Aug. 15, ahead of a regular council meeting, without notifying the public in advance, as the state's open-meetings law requires.
The meeting was to discuss possible police pay raises, she said.
In his letter dated Tuesday, Jegley wrote: "The public's business should be just that: business in public."
His office's review of information, including reports in The Leader newspaper in Jacksonville, "leads us to conclude there is reasonable suspicion that a violation of the Arkansas FOIA has occurred," the letter says.
[DOCUMENT: See letter from prosecutor Larry Jegley at arkansasonline.com/920letters/]
Because "violations may occur due to ignorance of the law or unfamiliarity," the letter says, Jegley sent a copy of The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act Handbook to city officials "in order that the people's business in Jacksonville be conducted properly in the future."
The prosecutor also "strongly" suggested that the City Council hold a seminar on the public-access law through the Arkansas Press Association.
Smith, Sipes and Twitty could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
In a Facebook post in late August, Smith referred to the lack of public notice for the meeting as a "mistake."
Thursday, Council Member Terry Sansing said he thought Jegley should have been harsher about the actions of the three council members who attended the meeting.
"I think he should have done something about it," Sansing said. "We have to make sure the citizens trust the city government. They can't trust the city if they're going to hold secret meetings."
He also said the prosecutor shouldn't have directed the critical letter to the seven other council members and other city officials who weren't involved in the illegal meeting.
Sansing said that he happened into the room where the Aug. 15 meeting was taking place, asked what was going on, and council members initially denied they were holding a meeting.
Later, Sansing said he believed the secret meeting was deliberate. He filed complaints Sept. 3 with the prosecutor's office, he said Thursday.
A council member for 30 years, Sansing said he has received more calls from constituents about the unadvertised meeting than any other issue.
"They're saying it's wrong and we should do something about it," he said.
Metro on 09/20/2019