By Joyce Ajayi, Mavuto Kalulu, and David Lee Year after year we are seeing more laws and initiatives go into effect to encourage local levels of government in Arkansas to have more online transparency. For example, Act 564 recently mandated all Arkansas counties to publish their annual budget and financial reports online. Why is this important? Local […]
How to Minimize Corruption in Pandemic-Related Programs
By Caleb Taylor How can corruption be minimized in pandemic-related government programs? Incentivize whistleblowers and improve online transparency. Programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or the Ready for Business Grant Program need greater scrutiny, according to ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu in “Be vigilant,” an op-ed published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on […]
How Can Arkansas Counties Prevent Abuse of Public Funds?
By Caleb Taylor What solutions are available to county officials hoping to stop corruption like the recent case of a former Craighead County Clerk allegedly stealing $1.6 million in taxpayer funds? Online transparency helps the public guard against cases of fraud, according to ACRE Policy Analyst Joyce Ajayi in “To prevent abuse,” published in the […]
County Clerk’s Arrest Shows Importance of Transparency
By Caleb Taylor A recent arrest of a Craighead County Clerk for theft of public funds shows the importance of improving the online transparency of county governments in Arkansas. Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday resigned last week and was charged with 13 felonies related to theft of public funds — estimated at $1.6 million —after […]
Greater Transparency in Faulkner & Other Arkansas Counties
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Policy Analysts Joyce Ajayi and Dr. Mavuto Kalulu spoke to the Faulkner County Tea Party on March 5 about their latest research on online transparency in Faulkner County and other county governments in Arkansas. Faulkner County climbed from the 8th most online-transparent county in 2018 to 6th in 2019. This comes […]
Greater Sunshine: Benton County Becoming More Transparent
By Mavuto Kalulu Benton County ranks second in the state in terms of their web transparency. Only Washington County ranks higher. This is according to the 2019 report, “Access Arkansas – County Web Transparency” published by the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) on December 20, 2019. Benton County’s transparency score of 0.762 reflects […]
County Transparency Online: Faulkner Rises, Independence Tumbles
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas media outlets are taking notice of the big changes in which counties rank highest for online transparency. Faulkner County climbed from 8th most online-transparent county in 2018 to 6th in 2019, while Independence County tumbled all the way from 17th place to 71st. These rankings come from the second annual Online […]
The Law That Makes Arkansas Counties More Transparent in 2020
By Caleb Taylor What one law that went into effect in 2020 will make county governments in Arkansas more transparent? ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu discussed the benefits of Act 564 in an op-ed “A step at a time,” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on December 27, 2018. Act 564 The law requires all […]
More Arkansas Counties Get on ‘Nice List’ for Web Transparency in 2019
By Caleb Taylor Who made the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics’s ‘nice list’ when it comes to transparency in 2019? You can find out through the just-released second annual Transparency Index from the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, co-authored by ACRE Policy Analysts Dr. Mavuto Kalulu and Joyce Ajayi. In 2018 four counties […]
Should Pope County gamble with the transparency of its casino deliberations?
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu says no in an op-ed entitled “In public view,” published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on September 20th. A proposed casino in Pope County has generated much debate between residents and state and local officials in recent months. Arkansas voters approved Issue 4 in 2018, which allowed […]