Freedom of information symposium set Thursday

An all-day Arkansas Freedom of Information Act symposium will be held Thursday.

The symposium by the Arkansas Transparency in Government Group will be from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Silver City V Room of the Riverfront Wyndham Hotel, 2 Riverfront Place in North Little Rock. The symposium will be live-streamed at www.ArkTIGG.com, which includes the symposium agenda, list of speakers and topics. The day-long event will be available for later viewing on the www.ArkTIGG.com website.

Admission is free and open to the general public. Attorneys can obtain one hour of CLE credit by their attendance during a one-hour presentation by Robert Steinbuch, professor of law at the W.H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The Arkansas Transparency in Government Group, which is organizing the symposium, was established in 2020, with chapters in Bella Vista, Conway, Fort Smith, Harrison and Hot Springs.

Joey McCutchen, lead attorney for the McCutchen Sexton Napurano, The Law Firm, headquartered in Fort Smith, is moderator.

Besides Steinbuch, speakers will include, among others, Beth Walker, who has worked for years in the Arkansas Attorney General’s office; Ray Pierce, an assistant Attorney General in the opinions section of that office; Sonny Albarado, Kristin Higgins and Frank Fellone, who have been involved with the Freedom of Information Act Coalition; Wes Brown, Neil Gladner and John Tull, who have been involved with the State Freedom of Information Task Force; Rusty Turner, editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; and Daniel Shue, prosecuting attorney from the 12th Judicial District in Fort Smith.

The symposium is geared toward citizens, journalists and attorneys.

Additional information is available at www.ArkTIGG.com.