This open records decision, issued by the Office of the Attorney General last week, is proof of a crisis in open government in Kentucky.

https://ag.ky.gov/orom/2019/19-ORD-202.doc

The decision involves the Office of the Governor but could just have easily involved any number of executive branch agencies, universities, school districts, or local governments.

These agencies have refined their skills at obstructing the public's right to know, confident in the cynical belief that they have the upper hand.

This appeal began with a reporter's June 25 request for correspondence sent or received by three public officials, during a period of less than two months, relating to a particular subject, KentuckyWired. The reporter even suggested search terms that might be employed in attempting to locate responsive records.

What followed was a comically inept attempt to impede the reporter's right of access to nonexempt public records —including needless delays based on irrelevant claims of an "open records backlog" and false allegations of a "fishing expedition" — culminating in the reporter's appeal to the Attorney General after some 28 days had elapsed with no results.

The open records decision holds the agency to account for its "transparent" attempts to obfuscate, focusing on the agency's failure to justify the delay in producing responsive records, its failure to conduct an adequate search for those records, and its subversion of the intent of the Open Records Act by erecting unnecessary impediments to the reporter's access.

It is proof of the degree to which public agencies now regularly stray from both the spirit and the letter of the Open Records Act.

The next Attorney General must vigorously enforce Kentucky's open government laws. Public officials must cease their "systematic and categorical disregard for the rule of law . . . codified in the Open Records Act."

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ky-court-of-appeals/1726554.html

All would do well to remember that "[t]he Open Records is neither an ideal nor a suggestion. It is the law. Public agencies must permit inspection of public records as required or risk meaningful punishment for noncompliance."

"Rigid adherence to this stark principle is the lifeblood of a law which rightly favors disclosure, fosters transparency, and secures the public trust."

The next four years will prove whether these officials have any interest in securing the public trust or are instead intent on further undermining Kentucky's once robust open government laws.