Arrest warrant issued for Arkansas housing official in Freedom of Information Act matter
A Little Rock, Arkansas, judge issued an arrest warrant for the head of a housing agency for not providing documents sought in a newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request, the Associated Press reports.
District Judge Alice Lightle signed the warrant, issued by the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney’s office, for a misdemeanor charge against Rodney Forte, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Alliance. The charge is for failing to comply with the FOIA.
The prosecutor’s office said Forte was not taken into custody but will have to appear in court. The FOIA requests were filed by a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, seeking documents related to the hiring of a new executive director at the housing agency.
The requests came after the reporter learned that the agency made the $92,000-a-year hire at a time when several other positions remained vacant and all workers are under temporary 10 percent pay cuts.
When the Democrat-Gazette contacted Forte on his personal cellphone for comment, he reportedly said, “Hello? Hello? Hello?” and hung up. Subsequent calls went unanswered.
Earlier this week, the agency sent the newspaper an invoice for $16,000 to hire outside workers to handle the FOIA request. The city attorney and FOIA experts say it is not legal to charge the newspaper for FOIA requests.
