FORT SMITH, Ark. — Joey McCutchen filed a lawsuit on June 4, 2021 in Sebastian County Circuit Court against the City of Fort Smith for failing to turn over public records pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
McCutchen sent an FOIA request to City Administrator Carl Geffken, Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman, and City Attorney Jerry Canfield, looking for emails sent or received by the Fort Smith "Board of Director Email Group" from May 1, 2020 to present.
McCutchen has concerns that Board of Directors are having secret discussions regarding the City’s massive Consent Decree and other public business.
City Attorney Colby Roe filed a Motion for Summary Judgment yesterday (June 10) which claims that the contents of the “Board of Director Email Group” are not considered public records.
McCutchen, through his attorneys Chip Sexton and Stephen Napurano, filed a Motion to Strike. It states that not only is the City’s motion untimely, but that the “entire matter was occasioned by the [City’s] unlawful failure to even respond to [McCutchen’s] Freedom of Information Act Request.”
The hearing is set for today at 10 a.m. in Circuit Courtroom 201, in front of Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Gunner Delay for a determination of the case.