## Facts

- The North Little Rock city council held a regular open meeting on April 24, 1967.
- After the open portion ended, the council voted to enter a closed session with the mayor and city attorney to discuss a matter pending before the Arkansas Public Service Commission in which the city was a party.
- The council excluded the public and the press, including a newspaper editor who sought to attend.
- The editors of a local newspaper sued for declaratory relief, alleging the closed session violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (Act 93 of 1967), which states that meetings of covered governmental bodies must be public except as “otherwise specifically provided by law.”
- City officials argued the Act should be strictly construed because violations can be misdemeanors and that attorney–client privilege allowed confidential consultation about litigation strategy.

## Issues

1. Whether the city council’s closed session violated the Arkansas FOIA open-meetings requirement.
2. Whether attorney–client privilege, or strict construction based on criminal penalties, permits an implied exception allowing a governing body to meet privately with its attorney about pending litigation.

## Decision

- The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the trial court.
- The closed session violated the Arkansas FOIA.
- A city council may not hold a secret meeting with its attorney concerning public business, including litigation, absent an explicit statutory exemption.
- The Act is construed liberally to effectuate public access; the court declined to recognize an implied attorney–client exception.

## Legal Principles

- Arkansas FOIA is a public-benefit statute and must be interpreted liberally to accomplish open access to governmental decisionmaking.
- The open-meetings mandate applies to formal and informal meetings of covered governing bodies unless an exception is “specifically provided by law.”
- Courts will not create implied exemptions to FOIA; attorney–client privilege does not override FOIA’s open-meetings requirement for public bodies without an express statutory basis.
- Discussions of litigation affecting the public entity constitute “public business” subject to FOIA’s default rule of openness.

## Conclusion

The court held that the Arkansas FOIA requires governmental bodies to conduct public business in open meetings and rejected a claimed implied attorney–client privilege exemption, making statutory text the exclusive source of any authorization for closed sessions.


Laman v. McCord, 432 S.W.2d 753 (Ark. 1968)