Monday, June 5, 2017

Arkansas college's lawyer calls bid to bar his firm in open-records suit harassment

Arkansas college's lawyer calls bid to bar his firm in open-records suit harassment:



"FAYETTEVILLE -- The attorney for Ecclesia College in Springdale says efforts to disqualify his law firm from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school amount to harassment and should be met with sanctions.

Arkansas legislators gave nearly $700,000 in taxpayer money from the state's General Improvement Fund to the private Christian college.

Jim Parsons' Freedom of Information lawsuit, filed Feb. 9 in Washington County Circuit Court, seeks documents from the school that are related to those state grants.

The suit contends that private organizations that receive public money, engage in activities of public interest, carry on work intertwined with a government body or receive grants to promote economic development are subject to the requirements of the state's open-records law.

Parsons, a former teacher and board member at the college, lives in Bella Vista. He also contends that Ecclesia's recent claim to be a church rather than a college puts it in violation of the state constitution regarding receipt of state money."



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