Hoxie Loses FOIA Lawsuit as Judge Finds Multiple Violations

HOXIE, Ark. – A lawsuit filed against Hoxie over violations of the Freedom of Information Act was won on all counts by the plaintiff Wednesday.

Filed by Joey McCutchen on behalf of Darrel Pickney, the lawsuit alleged several violations of the Arkansas FOIA. The judge found all of the allegations to be violations of the law.

In the order, Judge Rob Batton instructed Hoxie and Mayor Dennis Coggins to strictly comply with the law. The order says that Mayor Coggins testified that he did not know about FOIA – but, “it is his responsibility to ensure that the City of Hoxie strictly complies with the requirements of FOIA. The buck stops with him as mayor.”

The city was also ordered to pay court costs and attorneys fees in the case.

“I think this case is the poster child for why we need a strong Freedom of Information Act,” McCutchen said. “Because we had an everyday citizen, who happened to be a councilmember, who’s rights were denied under FOIA. This case has bigger implications. The folks who denied his rights, in my opinion, did so purposely and knowingly. And they will face no personal civil penalty.”

On or about October 20, 2023, Pickney made a verbal FOIA records request for footage from a government owned surveillance system. The request, which was acknowledged by City Attorney Nancy Hall, was not turned over to the plaintiff until approximately three weeks later. The court found that was untimely and in violation of the law.

Furthermore, Hall attempted to charge Pickney for the video footage. The court ruled that the city cannot pass on the cost of hiring outside personnel to retrieve the footage onto the plaintiff. The court found this to be a violation of FOIA.

Then, on February 17, 2024, Pickney submitted a second FOIA request by email to the Hoxie mayor, requesting public records for the City of Hoxie Job Stimulus Fund. The records weren’t turned over until March 5, 2024, which the court found to be untimely and in violation of the law.

“When we started delving into the issues of why he wasn’t getting bank records regarding reuse funds, what came to light is a much bigger issue here,” McCutchen said. “There’s an issue of the mayor, who violated my client’s FOIA rights, and a city attorney, who was weaponized by the mayor, violating my clients civil rights as it related to records. And then we see the much bigger issue: each of these people are involved in receiving these reuse funds in what a legislative audit now says is probably an improper manner.”

NEA Report spoke to Coggins on Friday. He mentioned filing a lawsuit against McCutchen over the allegation of improper use of funds.

“Where we’re in violation with the audit is, we don’t have new applications,” Coggins said. “The last two mayors didn’t use applications either but evidently they didn’t get turned in on it or something another. So we’re going to have to do a resolution to start everything back up. And [McCutchen] is saying we did something crooked. Now he’s fixing to get his ass a lawsuit, himself. I didn’t get paid out of the reuse money. I didn’t get my money until four or five months later. My partner who owned the land had died and his wife got her section of the money out but I didn’t get my money until five months later.”

Coggins said Pickney himself made the motion to give a loan to city attorney Hall before coming back later and saying it was illegal. Coggins insisted there was nothing unscrupulous about the process.

On February 25, 2024, Pickney sent a third FOIA request to Coggins requesting the recording of the February 13 Hoxie city council meeting. The recording was not turned over until the morning of the trial. An information technology specialist testified that the City of Hoxie did not contact him regarding the video until the day before the trial. Once again, the city’s production of the records was ruled to be untimely and in violation of the law.

The judge also prohibited the city from passing on the cost of personnel time associated with records requests.

Following the court’s decision, Mayor Coggins said he plans to employ a full-time staff member to handle FOIA requests.

“We’re going to get them out in three days,” Coggins said. “But it just hurts the city, because the people using this FOIA to bring lawsuits against people and that’s all Pickney was trying to do. It’s nonsense. The people who really need to be called out here who are doing something wrong, you never hear anything about them. But the people trying to learn this cotton-picking FOIA…it’s a mess to me.”

Coggins said he actually thought of quitting his job as mayor over this “junk.” He said he hopes someone runs against councilmember Pickney, accusing him of lying “a lot” during the testimony. But McCutchen views the dispute differently.

“These bad actors should be personally accountable to pay a civil penalty and not defend this case with what they consider Monopoly money that’s not their own,” McCutchen said.

Read the full order: Order (Pickney v. City of Hoxie)