Open Government

The League's report examined how often the General Assembly did not follow its established process to give Kentuckians time to review and comment on proposed legislation.

The open meetings law suffered in the chaos of the pandemic, writes retired Kentucky assistant attorney general Amye Bensenhaver.

Open government advocate Amye Bensenshaver observes that a circuit court judge rejected Cameron's disregard for over four decades of case law and attorney general decisions.

The legacy of the 2023 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly can be summarized in a single word: disenfranchisement, writes Amye Bensenhaver, retired Kentucky assistant attorney general and co-director of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.

A Paducah TV station is suing Murray State University for records "related to the university's attempts to interfere with reporting by WKMS."

As we celebrate Sunshine Week, the Kentucky Open Government Coalition has a reminder.

Research shows that around seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves.

First Amendment advocates point out that such information is already blocked by privacy laws — and the new legislation could create a chilling effect for those making and responding to open records requests because of the penalties.

In a three-page open records decision issued Monday, Cameron allowed the Department of Fish and Wildlife to withhold records showing discussions of public business by public officials and employees on their privately owned devices.

The governor said the public officers named in the bill deserve protection, but that a different measure passed by the legislature this year already does that — Senate Bill 267, the anti-doxxing bill he signed into law Thursday.

The state House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would bar people and entities outside the commonwealth from making open records requests for Kentucky records.

A last-minute substitute to a bill "relating to financial institutions" contains major changes that diminish the public's right to know under the Kentucky Open Records Law. It's already passed in the House of Representatives.