Supreme Court finds Private Company not subject to FOIA

ANB has the story.  The following is just an excerpt:

A private company doing business with the state is not subject to being sued to make its records of the deal public under the state Freedom of Information Act, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a unanimous decision, the high court overturned a lower court decision ordering Nabholz Construction Co. to release a detailed listing of $2.5 million in overhead expenses it received for construction of a $35 million dormitory at the University of Arkansas.

The full Nabholz Supreme Court decision is here.

Private company exempt from FOI law?

A privately owned company should not have to make its records public, even though it was lead contractor on a high-dollar state project, said Jeffrey Moore, attorney for Nabholz Construction Co, Thursday before the state Supreme Court.

“Up to this point the court has never extended the Freedom of Information Act such that a private industry can be sued directly under the Freedom of Information Act,” Moore argued before the court.

Ron Hope, attorney for Contractors for Public Protection Association, urged the high court to uphold a March ruling by Pulaski County Judge Marion Humphrey that ordered Nabholz to release a detailed listing of $2.5 million in overhead expenses it received for construction of a $35 million dormitory at the University of Arkansas.

Link to original story.

The Supreme Court may be skeptical of Hope’s argument.