ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

NOVEMBER 20, 2003

ANTHONY KEY

Petitioner

v.

STATE OF ARKANSAS

Respondent

CR 96-121

PRO SE MOTION FOR PHOTOCOPY OF TRANSCRIPT AND BRIEFS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE [CIRCUIT COURT OF PULASKI COUNTY, NO. CR 94-1368]

MOTION DENIED

Per Curiam

Anthony Key was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. We affirmed. Key v. State, 325 Ark. 73, 923 S.W.2d 865 (1996).

Key, who invokes the Freedom of Information Act, now seeks at public expense a copy of the transcript and briefs filed on appeal. Petitioner Key offers no grounds for the request beyond asserting that he is indigent.

The motion is denied. The Freedom of Information Act, codified as Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq, does not require a court to provide photocopying at public expense. See Moore v. State, 324 Ark. 453, 921 S.W.2d 606 (1996). A petitioner is not entitled to a free copy of a transcript or other material on file with this court unless he or she demonstrates some compelling need for specific documentary evidence to support an allegation contained in a petition for postconviction relief. See Austin v. State, 287 Ark. 256, 697 S.W.2d 914 (1985). Indigency alone does not entitle a petitioner to photocopying at public expense. Washington v. State, 270 Ark. 840, 606 S.W.2d 365 (1980). As the petitioner here has demonstrated no compelling need for the requested material, the motion must be denied.

It should be noted that all written material pertaining to an appeal remains permanently on file

with our clerk. Persons may review the material from an appeal in the clerk's office and photocopy all or portions of it. An incarcerated person desiring a photocopy of the material may write this court, remit the photocopying fee, and request that the copy be mailed to him or her at the place of incarceration. Moore, supra; Austin, supra.

Motion denied.