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City, county public notices to require new information
APA Legislative Review
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol. 16 | No. 18 | Thursday, May 6, 2021 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Newspapers score key wins in 2021 legislative session The Arkansas Press Association fought off an onslaught of proposed legislation to curb public notice requirements and dilute the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act during the 2021 Arkansas General Assembly, which wrapped up most of its business on April 28. The APA and other media groups helped turn back a bill that would have allowed governing bodies to go into closed executive sessions to discuss economic development, and those same groups shut down a proposal that would have significantly restricted access to coroner’s reports. Still, perhaps the best news for APA member newspapers are draft bills that were never even filed, thanks to the newspaper industry’s behind-thescenes efforts. Newspapers worked out a compromise with the state’s cities and counties that ensures government public notices will remain in newspapers for at least another two years. Another draft piece of legislation later scuttled would have taken school bond notices out of newspapers. Though legislators in about a dozen other states have filed bills to eliminate public notice, Arkansas’s public notice requirements remain strong. To thwart a likely unsuccessful government public notice battle, industry advocates didn’t fight a bill supported by Arkansas cities and counties to add information to each city and county public notice. Act 954 enhances transparency in those public notices by stating which government entity paid for the notice and how much the notice costs. (See article on page 4, of APW.)
Over the next two years, legislators will undertake a study on public notices with the intention of introducing some sort of legislation that would affect newspaper public notice in 2023. APA welcomes the study. “We are eager to engage in a study of public notices, because we remain confident newspapers are the single best vehicle for delivering those notices, as they have been for centuries,” said Ashley Wimberley, APA executive director. “We recognize a need to modernize and improve public notice, we know that an independent repository is an
important component to transparency and accountability. As we have year after year, we plan to show again why public notices should remain in newspapers.” Wimberley specifically thanked the APA’s contract lobbyists, Jon Gilmore and J.R. Davis, of Gilmore Davis Strategy Group, for their assistance in this year’s legislative session. WEHCO Media and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, APA Board President Rusty Turner, APA Director of Communications Aaron Sadler, and countless others also contributed to a successful legislative session. Continued on Page 2