Hot Springs police handcuff government transparency advocate, banish her from public venues • Arkansas Advocate

She said police officers handcuffed Bentonville attorney Jen Standerfer and escorted her out of the Hot Springs Convention Center on Friday after she collected two signatures for citizen-initiated ballot measures.

Standerfer is a founding member of the nonpartisan organization Arkansas Citizens for Transparency (ACT), which received approval from Attorney General Tim Griffin in January to solicit support among registered voters to put two government transparency measures on the ballot in November.

The incident marks at least the second time in the last month that supporters of potential ballot measures have encountered resistance from police while collecting signatures in a public square ahead of the July 5 deadline.

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The Arkansas Bar Association held its annual conference Wednesday through Friday in Hot Springs. Standerfer said in an interview that she was attending the conference as a member of the association and to complete her mandatory continuing education as a lawyer. She said she brought petitions for both measures in case anyone wanted to sign them.

A proposed measure would amend the state Freedom of Information Act to, among other things, codify a definition of a “public meeting,” expand the statutory definitions of a “governing body” and “communications” among members of government agencies, impose stricter civil penalties for violations of the Freedom of Information Act, and protect the right of citizens to appeal Freedom of Information Act decisions.

The other proposed measure would amend the state constitution to create the right to government transparency, defined as “the obligation of the government to share information with citizens.”

To be placed on the ballot for the November vote, 72,563 signatures are required for legislative proposals and 90,704 signatures for amendments by July 5.

Standerfer said Hot Springs police first asked her to stop collecting signatures Thursday night when she brought a cart full of petition materials with a sign on it to the convention center. She complied and did not return the cart or collect signatures Friday morning, she said.

Advertising of any kind is prohibited in the convention center, said Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, the operator of the convention center.

“We have an obligation to the people who rent our premises to be able to use them without disruption,” said Arrison.

He added that the content of the petitions had “nothing to do with” the resistance to Standerfer’s signature collection.

Standerfer said she has not asked anyone for signatures or shared information about the proposed ballot measures unless someone approached her and asked directly.

“For me, it wasn’t a contentious issue. I didn’t go up to people and say, ‘Hey, can I talk to you about the FOIA?'” she said. “It’s literally the least intrusive way to talk… Anytime someone brings it up to me, I’m going to talk to them.”

After two people signed petitions on Friday, police contacted Standerfer and said neither the convention center nor the bar association wanted her to collect signatures. Officers threatened her with jail time, handcuffed her and escorted her out of the building. They then removed the handcuffs and said she was trespassing but would not be charged or sent to jail, she said.

Arrison said he was not present Friday and did not see Standerfer collecting signatures or interacting with police, but “she must have done something that made her think she was collecting signatures again.”

The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission owns the convention center and is responsible for spending the 3% city tax on prepared food and lodging to advertise the city. According to the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission, the commission approved nearly $4.5 million in capital improvements to the center last year. Hot Springs Sentinel Record.

Standerfer said that, contrary to police statements, she had not trespassed at the convention center because it had been paid for with taxpayers’ money.

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She also said it was unusual for the Arkansas Bar Association to object to her willingness to collect signatures, given that her conferences consistently have a “political undertone.” Lawyers often run for office, and Standerfer herself once ran as a Democrat for a seat in the state House of Representatives.

“I have never been to a bar meeting where a candidate did not wear a sticker, hand you a sticker or a handful, or ask you for your support in an election,” she said.

She added that the bar association told her it would not take a position on the government’s ballot measures on transparency, but that Hot Springs police told her the organization wanted her to leave because it was collecting signatures.

“I would like to see government agencies that serve the people do the people a service and say, ‘Hey, we have a policy against this,’ before they call the police and have them removed from the building,” Standerfer said. “It saddens me that we’ve lost that sense of community … because people are so outraged by the idea of ​​policy.”

Neither the Arkansas Bar Association nor the Hot Springs Police Department responded to requests for comment by Friday evening.

The Advocate has sent FOIA requests to the police department requesting Standerfer’s arrest report (if one exists) and body camera footage from the police officers who escorted her out of the convention center.