Kentucky’s Open Records Law would undergo significant change under a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate State and Local Government Committee. A number of changes were made in the House approved measure.
Among them that a standardized request form would not be required and those making open records requests could include people employed or working within the Commonwealth or own property here.
Shepherdsville Senator Michael Nemes called it a cost saving measure. “It was quite a bit of time and effort and thus into money that it cost the cabinets to do open records and mostly our legal staff was doing a lot of open records and taking a lot of time and a lot of money,” said Nemes.
Amy Bensenhaver with Kentucky Open Government Coalition testified the measure would impose additional burdens on public agencies and not be a major cost saver. And Bensenhaver, who worked in open records for 25 years in the state attorney general’s office, said residency issues remain. “In those states where these requirements exist, we have been told that, because of uneven and inconsistent enforcement, there are often delays not just for residents but for non-residents. You know obviously non-residents are out of the picture, but the ability to confirm residency, I know that’s particularly been a problem in Tennessee,” explained Bensenhaver.
An earlier version of the bill was changed to allow all media outlets including those outside Kentucky to make an open records request. It still includes a provision to extend the deadline for a public agency to determine whether it will comply with a public records request to five days.
If you appreciate access to this important content during this global pandemic, please help us continue to provide public service journalism and information to Central and Eastern Kentucky communities. Please make your contribution to WEKU today.
