## Facts

- Three girls (two age sixteen, one age fifteen) were arrested on serious charges and transported to a regional juvenile detention center operated by public officials.
- The detention center was located in the same building as the county jail but operated separately, including separate records and personnel.
- At the time a newspaper sought information, no juvenile petition had been filed and no juvenile court proceedings had been commenced.
- The juveniles attacked a matron, took keys, escaped the facility, and fled in the matron’s car.
- After hearing radio reports of the escape, the managing editor of a local newspaper went to the facility and requested the escapees’ names.
- The county sheriff and chief deputy refused, asserting that (1) state juvenile-code confidentiality applied and (2) federal juvenile-justice grant requirements effectively barred disclosure.
- The newspaper and its employees sued under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking an order compelling disclosure.
- The circuit court ruled for the sheriff, reasoning that the legislature had not worded the relevant statutes as intended and treating the requested information as confidential.

## Issues

1. Whether Arkansas FOIA required disclosure of the names of juveniles held in a public detention facility when no juvenile proceedings had been commenced.
2. Whether federal juvenile-justice grant conditions could impliedly create an exemption to Arkansas FOIA absent express state legislation.

## Decision

- The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed and remanded with directions to order disclosure of the juveniles’ names.
- The court held the juvenile-code confidentiality provisions did not apply because the juveniles were not “subjects of juvenile proceedings” when the FOIA request was made.
- The court rejected the argument that federal funding conditions or related federal rules could be treated as an implied FOIA exemption not enacted by the Arkansas legislature.
- The court disapproved the circuit court’s approach of rewriting statutes based on perceived legislative intent rather than statutory text.

## Legal Principles

- Arkansas FOIA is construed liberally in favor of disclosure; exemptions are construed narrowly and must be stated by the legislature.
- Juvenile-record confidentiality under the juvenile code applies to juveniles who are “subjects of juvenile proceedings”; confidentiality does not attach merely because a minor is detained when no juvenile proceeding has begun.
- Courts may not create FOIA exemptions by judicial construction based on policy concerns, including concerns about potential loss of federal funds.
- Statutory interpretation must apply enacted text; courts may not correct or extend statutes based on what a court believes the legislature intended but did not write.

## Conclusion

The court required disclosure under Arkansas FOIA because the detainees were not yet within juvenile-proceeding confidentiality protections and because neither federal grant conditions nor judicial policy concerns could supply a FOIA exemption absent express legislative action.


Troutt Bros., Inc. v. Emison, 311 Ark. 27, 841 S.W.2d 604 (Ark. 1992)