AG Griffin rejects FOIA initiated acts, education amendment

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

A day after rejecting four proposed constitutional amendments affecting the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday (Jan. 9) also rejected four initiated act proposals tied to FOIA as well as a proposed education amendment.

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, the advocacy group seeking to get the FOIA measures on the November 2024 ballot were stymied again by Griffin, who cited problems with the four proposals.

“Having reviewed the text of your proposed constitutional amendment, as well as your proposed popular name and ballot title, I must reject your popular name and ballot title due to the following problem,” he said.

AG Griffin rejects FOIA initiated acts, education amendment

Judge orders TRO in Corrections Board lawsuit, AG sues panel over FOIA violations

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

A tension-filled week of accusations, legal wranglings and political drama between Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Attorney General Tim Griffin and the state Board of Corrections ended with more acrimony and theater on Friday (Dec. 15).

For weeks, Gov. Sanders and the board have fought over plans to expand prison beds. Sanders has asked for additional space, while the seven-member corrections oversight panel has called for more details on funding and personnel to protect the prisoner expansion requests. Because the state Constitution gives autonomy to the board, the decision-making hasn’t been a purely executive decision for the governor. It led to Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri being suspended with pay on Thursday, while a corrections board lawsuit was filed the same day to halt a new state law that it claims undermines its authority. Read more here.

All of this boiled to a new level of political turmoil on Friday as AG Griffin filed a lawsuit against the Board of Corrections for failing to comply with the state’s Freedom of Information Act, while a Pulaski County judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of the board in its lawsuit.

Judge orders TRO in Corrections Board lawsuit, AG sues panel over FOIA violations

State third party election law declared unconstitutional, appeal being mulled

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A district judge has ruled that Arkansas’ 56 Libertarian Party candidates qualified for this year’s ballot, but the state could still appeal for future elections, and if it does, the incoming Senate president pro tempore expects it to win.

In an 83-page decision, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled Sept. 30 that an Arkansas law passed in 2019 violated the Libertarian Party of Arkansas’ 1st and 14th Amendment rights. The case was Libertarian Party of Arkansas v. John Thurston, who is secretary of state.

Act 164 of 2019 increased the required number of valid signatures “new” parties must collect from 10,000 to 3% of the total number of votes in the previous governor’s race. For this election cycle, the Libertarians would have had to submit 26,746 valid signatures, which is more than they did.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/10/state-third-party-election-law-declared-unconstitutional-appeal-being-mulled/