Sebastian County Chapter of American Red Cross v. Weatherford

In Sebastian County Chapter of American Red Cross v. Weatherford, 311 Ark. 656, 846 S.W.2d 641 (1993), the trial court found that the Sebastian County Chapter of the American Red Cross was publicly funded for FOIA purposes by virtue of its one dollar per year, thirty-year lease with the city of Fort Smith. The supreme court reversed, holding that indirect government benefits or subsidies do not constitute "public funds" under the plain and ordinary meaning evidenced by Black's Law Dictionary (6th Ed. 1990), which defines public funds as "moneys belonging to government". The Weatherford court concluded, "here, no payment of government moneys was made to the Red Cross and the concomitant application of the FOIA should not transpire." Id. at 660, 846 S.W.2d at 645.