Little Rock adds FOIA information to website

Little Rock, Arkansas – In order to inform the public about all FOIA requests received by the City, and better facilitate Freedom of Information Act requests, the City of Little Rock launched a webpage Friday.

The page, LittleRock.gov/foia, contains a form that Arkansas residents can use to submit their requests. It also has information about how the City handles FOIA requests and offers information about the law. Requestors are encouraged to use the web form or to send FOIA requests by email to the City’s FOIA coordinator at [email protected]

Another feature of the page is an updated listing of every request received by the City of Little Rock for 2022. There are plans to eventually include on the page a direct link to some of the most common public records that are sought by the public, as well as links to many of the documents provided to the public for specific FOIA responses.

After Sept. 1, those features will likely go online, which is the target implementation date for new software the City has purchased to handle FOIA requests more efficiently and effectively.

“When we learned of the inefficiencies within our FOIA process this week, we immediately addressed them,” said Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. “Creating an easy-to-use webpage with contact details and with additional information about our FOIA requests is one step toward improving our response to public records requests.”

Mayor Scott announced on Tuesday several FOIA-related changes in addition to the creation of a new web page.

Those changes included the creation of a new FOIA Division at City Hall led by Chief Deputy City Attorney Alex Betton.