Senate Bill 12 to Exempt School Security Records

The Arkansas Traveler - news









There is another bill that will limit the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by exempting state-funded school security records.











FOIA makes federal agency records accessible to the public upon request.  There are certain exemptions including information that would violate national security, personal privacy and law enforcement.  








It will also exempt “information that upon disclosure could reasonably be expected to be detrimental to the public safety,” according to Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R).   





This would include security plans, school safety plans, procedures, risk assessments, studies, measures and information related to school security officers.  





Instructor Ray Minor in the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism said the bill “severely limits the public records needs of Arkansas residents.”





Minor said that Arkansas’ FOIA law is seen as fairly strong in comparison to other states but “continued whittling like this will eventually render it useless.”





There are a handful of other bills seeking to limit the power of FOIA. Senate Bill 131 wants to make police official information exempt. House Bill 1248 proposes exempting police camera footage from the public.  





“FOI isn’t just a journalism law. It’s public records for everyone,” Minor said. “Passing exemptions like this continues to limit transparency of government actions and limits the opportunities for the public to weigh in on concerns.”





The bill was passed in the senate Feb. 9. It was amended and passed by the House March 7.






















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