AIDS Charity Sued Over Client Records

A government-supported private charity in Little Rock, Ark., that serves people with AIDS is fighting in court to keep from revealing records concerning its clients.

If the charity loses the case, experts say, other nonprofit groups that receive government funds could come under pressure to make their records public.

At issue are records maintained by the Arkansas AIDS Foundation, which provides medicine, food, and other necessities to people with AIDS. The records detail complaints made by the Arkansas AIDS Foundation’s clients against a separate nonprofit group, the Arkansas Supportive Housing Network. KARK-TV, also in Little Rock, sued to obtain the records but stipulated that the identity of the foundation’s clients could be kept secret.

Jim Simpson, a lawyer for KARK, said the request was in line with others made under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, which provides public access to records of government agencies and private groups that receive government funds.

But Allen Dobson, a lawyer for the foundation, said the lawsuit is flawed because release of the information is prohibited by federal law and by the terms of the grants and could violate the privacy of the foundation’s clients.

Eighty percent of the Arkansas AIDS Foundation’s support comes from federal funds that are channeled through the Arkansas Department of Health, according to Larry Dearmon, executive director of the charity.