FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas legislators are considering restricting access to some public records, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced in a conference on September 8. This would have a significant impact on public access to some government records.

The proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Act are set to be debated at a special session that Sanders announced will take place next week.

The Freedom of Information Act says any individual may request access to any government records that are not protected from public disclosure by the law.

Rusty Turner is a professor of strategic media at the University of Arkansas. He shed light on the importance of this statute.

“Journalists utilize the Freedom of Information Act extensively in their work in reporting the activities of government back to their readers and viewers, but the public uses it as well to keep themselves informed about what’s going on. We don’t refer to it as the journalist law. We call it the people’s law,” Turner said.

This meeting is scheduled to begin on Monday and continue until September 13 of this week.