Faulkner County Reports is a group of citizens who believe the public has a role, beyond voting, to understand and give input to those in government — and it’s hard to have an informed opinion on government matters without knowing facts and data about the policies and processes used, and what information led to decisions that are made.
As long-time attendees at Faulkner County Quorum Court and Conway City Council meetings, we’ve noticed many financial and policy questions go unasked, while other important questions receive inadequate answers. We’ve set out to follow up on those questions and concerns to enhance accountability and bring more transparency to governmental operations.
Our work increases public knowledge and helps taxpayers understand how our city, county and state government works and what it costs. We use the Arkansas FOIA law to obtain public information to gain that understanding.
We are especially interested in the financial details of the Faulkner County budget and spending processes. We intend to explore the organization, responsibilities, and management of county government to provide as much factual information as possible so taxpayers can better understand how Faulkner County makes decisions, sets policy, and spends our taxes.
Faulkner County Reports has over 125 years of combined business expertise with Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies in industries ranging from banking to academia and manufacturing to information technology.
As long-time Quorum Court observers, we believe Faulkner County would operate much more efficiently just by following existing county procedures and/or standard practices that are common in the everyday business world. Certainly taxpayers would greatly benefit from open-book transparency about County operations.
We plan to continue using our extensive business knowledge to scrutinize county projects and concerns in support of accountability, ethics and transparency in government.
Using FOIA To Obtain Public Records
Arkansas’ FOIA — one of the strongest Freedom of Information Acts in the country — allows citizens to query their government about the “how and why” on decisions and how priorities are set. City, county, and state governmental financial transactions, for the most part, are public records and are available to all citizens through FOIA.
We use FOIA to obtain written details (public information) about the processes behind the actions taken, as well as the various financial transactions that our city, county, and state governments pay for with our tax dollars. After all, our elected officials work for us, and taxpayers deserve as many facts as we can obtain about how government makes policy decisions and decides where our money is being spent.
The Arkansas FOIA
For more information on the Arkansas FOIA, get a free copy of the Freedom of Information Handbook — an up-to-date guide that was created by the Arkansas Press Association, the Governor and Attorney General of Arkansas, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Arkansas Broadcasters Association, the AP Managing Editors, and the AP Broadcasters Association.
