North Central Association of Colleges & Schools v. Troutt Brothers, Inc.

This Ballotpedia article needs to be updated.
This Ballotpedia article is currently under review by Ballotpedia staff as it may contain out-of-date information. Please email us if you would like to suggest an update.

---

---

This Open Records and Transparency Project article is a sprout. You can help us collect information about this case, and other important FOIA cases across the country, by expanding this article.

North Central Association of Colleges & Schools vs. Troutt Brothers, Inc. Number: 261 Ark. 378, 548 S.W.2d 825 Year: 1977 State: Arkansas Court: Arkansas Supreme Court Other lawsuits in Arkansas Other lawsuits in 1977 Precedents include: This case established that organizations which receive dues from public bodies are considered publicly funded.

Sunshine Laws

How to Make Records Requests

Sunshine Litigation

Sorted by State, Year and Topic

Sunshine Nuances

Deliberative Process Exemption

North Central Association of Colleges & Schools v. Troutt Brothers, Inc. was a case before Arkansas Supreme Court in 1977 concerning open records.

Important precedents

This case established that organizations which receive dues from public bodies are considered publicly funded.

Background

• The North Central Association(NCA) is an association of schools and colleges in 19 states which is funded by members dues. NCA accredits schools in all 19 states and maintains standards for educational curriculum. The Arkansas Board is composed of educators who volunteer their time.
• The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Arkansas State Committee conducted a hearing with the board members of Jonesboro School District No. 1 concerning accreditation. Michael R. Overall, a reporter for the Jonsboro Sun was denied access to the hearing, because the NCA felt it was not a public body and not subject to the open records or open meetings laws.
• The newspaper filed suit, attempting to compel the NCA to release the minutes and records of the meeting.
• The trial court ruled in favor of the newspaper, ordering the release of the documents claiming that the NCA was in fact subject to the act because it was primarily funded by public funds.
• The NCA appealed the decision argueing that it was not subject to the law because it was not created by the state.

Ruling of the court

The trial court ruled in favor of the newspaper and ordered the documents released. The court felt that the NCA was publicly funded as it received a majority of funds from public schools.

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court and ordered the NCA subject to the open records act. It determined that the NCA did in fact receive substantial funding from state funds. First, the committee chairperson is a state employee who uses his office to conduct public business. Secondly, over 90% of the funding for NCA comes from state schools. This degree of public funding results in a private corporation being considered a public body subject to the open records act.

See also

• Opinion of the Court