LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. announced on August 9, 2022, that Chief Deputy City Attorney Alex Betton will lead the newly aligned FOIA Division.
He also ordered an overhaul of the city's procedures regarding public requests for information as his office continues its efforts to improve and promote transparency.
The city reportedly receives hundreds of requests a year for records covered by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Mayor Scott has made hundreds of city records available to the public on their open data website, outreach programs, and City Hall pop-ups.
“Even so, there are ways we can improve our FOIA procedures to expedite responses and improve communications with requestors," Mayor Scott said. “The changes we are implementing immediately will result in better dialogue with Arkansas citizens who request public records and allow us to better manage the influx of records requests we receive on a daily basis."
He also added that they will work to eliminate logjams in the FOIA process and ensure that both requesters and the public can view the status of pending records requests.
Website updates will go live the week of August 8, 2022, on the littlerock.gov homepage— this will show what FOIA requests have been received to date and whether any are still outstandind.
The homepage will also feature a new web form and link to directly submit a request or contact the city's FOIA coordinator.
Additionally, the city will be posting frequently requested records online for public access.
Mayor Scott approved the purchase of new software to process FOIA requests more efficiently earlier this year, however, HR has faced delays in implementing it.
The software, NextRequest, features tools that can help reduce staff time needed to gather and prepare documents, which would result in faster responses.
Chief Deputy Betton will oversee NextRequest's implementation by September 1, 2022.
Meanwhile, Mayor Scott directed staff to eliminate procedural steps that had unintentionally slowed down the process of responding to requesters.
“We take FOIA requests seriously, and it has always been our intention to reply to them completely and promptly. Doing so is a priority,” he said
The city will also conduct FOIA refresher training for all department heads.
“I believe these changes will result in a much-improved process, and we will look for additional ways to improve how we respond to FOIA requests as needed,” Mayor Scott added.