Dismissal of county from lawsuit sought
FAYETTEVILLE — Attorneys who filed a lawsuit claiming continuing violations of the state’s Freedom of Information Act by the Washington Water Authority have filed a motion to dismiss Washington County from the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in Washington County Circuit Court by Fort Smith attorneys Joey McCutchen and Stephen Napurano, along with their client Mickey Wayne Wagner.
The lawsuit contends that the Washington Water Authority has violated the Freedom of Information Act by not recording its meetings.
The motion seeks to dismiss Washington County but does not seek to dismiss the Washington Water Authority. The lawsuit contends that the Water Authority is a governing body bound by provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and is required by law to record its meetings and retain those recordings for at least a year.
McCutchen said Friday that he and other attorneys involved initially believed the county to be a proper party because it has the Water Authority and other commissions and committees listed on its website, but after further research they concluded that the Washington Water Authority was the proper party to sue.
Tad Sours, director of communications for Washington County, said Friday that including the county in the original lawsuit was an attempt to make the county look bad.
“Basically, they were just trying to give the county a black eye,” Sours said.
The county has argued in court filings seeking dismissal of the case that the Washington Water Authority is an independent entity created by the Rural Development Authority of Washington County and is not under the control of Washington County government.
Wagner filed a Freedom of Information Act request Feb. 29 seeking recordings of all board meetings dating back to Jan. 1, 2023, according to the complaint.
Wagner was directed to the Washington Water Authority YouTube channel but found only three board meetings from that time frame were available, according to the lawsuit. The county’s lawyer contacted Wagner on March 18 and told him no additional audio or video recordings exist.