By Caleb Taylor How can Arkansas counties improve their political transparency? In their latest research, “Arkansas Policy Recommendations: Political Transparency,” ACRE Policy Analysts Joyce Ajayi and Dr. Mavuto Kalulu discuss how county elected officials can improve the transparency of their quorum court meetings. Ajayi and Kalulu begin by noting that some Arkansas counties still don’t […]
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 […]
Another Arkansas County Embraces Online Financial Transparency
By Caleb Taylor Faulkner County is the latest Arkansas county to follow ACRE recommendations to increase their transparency and public accessibility. ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu discussed his research on the benefits of transparency at a Faulkner County Quorum Court meeting on August 20th. Faulkner County Justices of the Peace were deciding whether to […]
Measuring Public Resource Abuse in Arkansas
By Mavuto Kalulu Public corruption exists at all levels of government. The impact of the abuse of public services may be strongly felt at the local government level because of the direct contact these government officials have in the provision of services. In Arkansas, for example, county governments are responsible for emergency medical services, fire […]
We asked all 75 counties for their budgets. Here’s what we found.
By Caleb Taylor How difficult is it to get a copy of a county budget in Arkansas? According to ACRE research published in an op-ed the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on February 15th, that depends on which of the 75 Arkansas counties you ask. Alexandria Tatem, a UCA Schedler Honor’s College student and an ACRE student worker […]
Washington County Makes Transparency a Priority
By Mavuto Kalulu and Terra Aquia Congratulations to Washington County government officials for the good work on publishing public information on their website. According to the transparency index created by the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE), not only did Washington County obtain the highest overall score, it led in each of the three […]
Let the Sunshine In: County Leaders Hear How to Improve Government Transparency
By Caleb Taylor How can Arkansas counties improve their online transparency? Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) Policy Analyst Mavuto Kalulu and ACRE Program Coordinator Terra Aquia discussed this and the findings of a new Transparency Index at the County Judges 2018 Fall meeting on September 14th in North Little Rock. County Judges are […]
This County Has Arkansas’s Most Transparent Government
By Caleb Taylor Is your county government giving citizens all the facts they need to stay informed? You can find out through a new Transparency Index released by the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics this week. This inaugural index produced by ACRE Policy Analyst Mavuto Kalulu and Program Coordinator Terra Aquia ranks all Arkansas […]