Retired State Representative Derrick Graham is this year's recipient of the Living Legacy Award from the Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus. Early in his legislative career, Graham played an important role in open government by securing passage of the first training requirements for some state and local officials.
A former teacher, Graham recognized that most state and local officials had few, if any, opportunities for open records and open meetings training.
His commitment to education prompted him to sponsor the open government legislation for which he is not widely known. In 2005, he shepherded KRS 15.257 to passage with the goal of ensuring basic proficiency in both laws.
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=915
(That same commitment lead Rep. Graham to accept an invitation from the University of Kentucky’s Scripps Howard First Amendment Center to participate as an interviewee — along with Al Smith and Jon Fleischaker — in a open records and meetings training video for the public, hosted by Renee Shaw. Multiple revisions to the laws since its creation have rendered the video obsolete and it is no longer available.)
Graham’s law, KRS 15.257, assigns educational duties to the Kentucky Attorney General through preparation and distribution of written materials about the open records and open meetings laws, and any amendments to the laws, to all county judge/executives, mayors, county attorneys, city attorneys, superintendents of public school districts, presidents of each of the state public postsecondary education institutions, and attorneys of public school districts and public postsecondary education institutions throughout Kentucky.
That written information prepared by the Office of the Attorney General explains the procedural and substantive provisions of the open records and open meetings laws and includes information prepared by the Department for Libraries and Archives concerning proper retention and management of public records.
https://www.ag.ky.gov/AG%20Publications/2023%20Open%20Records%20Open%20…
The officials identified in the statute are then responsible for "designating and submitting the names and addresses of the attorneys to whom this information shall be disseminated to the Office of the Attorney General."
Sadly, the more expansive version of the law sponsored by Rep. Graham in 2005 -- itself a compromise from his original goal of in-person training -- was amended in 2008 to reach a narrower audience and eliminate verification procedures.
Other lawmakers have undertaken similar efforts, but encountered resistance. And compliance with these duties by recent attorneys general has been questioned.
https://kyopengov.org/blog/new-open-records-and-open-meetings-training-…
We are nostalgic for an era in which lawmakers put action to words in support of open government. We look forward to the day when more lawmakers aspire to the standard set by Rep. Graham in his years of service.
"Graham has left an indelible mark on Kentucky’s history," including the history of its open government laws.
