Arkansas § 15-5-409 - Review of applications.

§ 15-5-409. Review of applications.

All applications filed with the Arkansas Development Finance Authority under the provisions of this subchapter shall first be reviewed by the appropriate designated staff officials of the authority or by a committee consisting of members of the authority for preliminary review and recommendation prior to being submitted for consideration by the authority. All applications submitted to the authority and all supporting documents, instruments, proposed contracts, estimated costs, or other evidence submitted with the applications shall be confidential and shall not be open to public review, except as provided in this subchapter, and all staff meetings or meetings of the review committee of members of the authority established for the purpose of giving preliminary review of the applications shall be confidential and shall not be open to the public. Upon conclusion of the preliminary review of each request for a guaranty under this subchapter, if the request for guaranty is submitted to the authority with a recommendation that it be approved, the application and all supporting documents, including the findings and the recommendations resulting from the staff or review committee, shall be an open public record available for inspection during all regular business hours. In the event that an application from a borrower requesting a guaranty under this subchapter is not recommended for approval by the authority under this subchapter, that application and all supporting documents, including all findings and recommendations in regard thereto by the staff or review committee, shall continue to be confidential and not open to public inspection. The borrower shall be notified in writing of any staff or review committee determination that the application is not being submitted to the authority with a recommendation that it be approved. The notice shall advise the borrower that the application will be kept confidential unless the borrower shall file, within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the written notice, a petition with the authority requesting that the authority hold a hearing in regard to the application, in which event the application and all supporting documents shall become public information available for public inspection. The membership of a review committee, when acting in that capacity, shall never be considered to constitute a quorum of the authority for the purpose of approving an application or guaranty under this subchapter.