Washington County Water Authority Admits to Violating FOIA Laws
On June 6, the Washington County Water Authority acknowledged that it breached the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations by failing to record all of its meetings between 2023 and 2024. This admission came as part of a lawsuit filed by Mickey Wayne Wagner, who initiated the legal action with his lawyers, Joey McCutchen and Stephen Napurano, on March 26, 2023. The original lawsuit included Washington County as a defendant but was later removed ten days after the water authority was added on April 19. The sole defendant in the case is now the Washington County Water Authority.
- The authority has agreed to record all special and called open public meetings and preserve the recordings for at least one year after the meetings. Additionally, the authority has pledged to arrange a FOIA compliance training session within the next month.
- McCutchen, Wagner’s attorney, emphasized the intentional nature of the breach, stating that it was not a malfunctioning of recording equipment but instead a deliberate decision to relocate meetings to a different venue where no recording equipment was available. This highlights the need for more robust FOIA legislation in Arkansas.
- The initial complaint by Wagner revealed that only three board meetings—those of January 26, 2023, March 16, 2023, and September 12, 2023—were recorded and uploaded to the YouTube channel.
Washington County was initially included in the lawsuit alongside the water authority for violating FOIA by not recording meetings in 2023. However, the county was later dismissed, leaving the water authority as the sole defendant. The water authority’s recent admission marks a significant development in the case, underscoring the importance of compliance with FOIA regulations to ensure transparency in governance.
