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CFSB Center to host home, garden and farm show

Sentinel Staff
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CFSB Center to host home, garden and farm show

By Kacie Lawrence | March 19, 2024

MURRAY – Western Kentucky has a reputation for being a great place to be outdoors, and as spring approaches, it’s easy to find our minds wandering to plans for all the things that one can do out of our winter cocoons. For those who have big ideas or are looking for inspiration, the West Kentucky Home, Garden and Farm Show at the CFSB Center this Friday and Saturday might be a good place to start. 

The man behind the show, Daniel Walker of DW Enterprises, wants the public to know that this is an event that promises to have a “little something” for everyone. Exhibitors’ offerings range from roofing to plumbing, from financing to furniture, plants to pest control, renovations to recreation, interior and exterior.

“We will have landscape and lawn care vendors there,” Walker said, “all kinds of equipment dealers from tractors and farming equipment, lawnmowers and yard equipment, all-purpose utility vehicles and golf carts; (and) plenty of different contractors and suppliers of all needs.” 

Walker, a Murray native who has long worked in event management, said the idea for the show came while having coffee with a friend. 

“The idea for the show isn’t technically mine,” Walker admitted, “The show was once an annual event here in Murray and was run by Froggy (103.7) for a number of years in the 2000s. They let the show go around the 2010s and it hasn’t happened since. That is until last year.”

The renewed event is in its second year running. Last year, the show hosted 51 vendors and was attended by over 2,500 people, and this year, the show promises to be even bigger. 

“We have already signed roughly 75 vendors and are still communicating with more daily.” Walker said last week.

In addition to outdoor style vendors, the event will play host to vendors of the home sales variety such as Scentsy, Tupperware, Norwex, and Pampered Chef. There will also be several boutiques, homemade fudge, roasted nuts and more.

Walker also wants the public to know that they don’t have to leave the kids at home. 

“We will have a kids’ area provided by Bluegrass Academy of Dance and an antique tractor show put on by the Purchase Area Antique Tractor Club,” he said.

The event takes place this weekend, March 22-23, at the CFSB Center in Murray from 4-8 p.m. on Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free. For a full list of exhibitors visit www.wkhgf.com.

University calls request for $415K in sanctions ‘gluttonous’

Jessica Paine
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University calls request for $415K in sanctions ‘gluttonous’

MURRAY – In a pleading filed yesterday in Calloway Circuit Court, Murray State University asked Special Judge John Atkins to reject the request for sanctions made by Paducah television station WPSD-TV after he ruled last month that the university violated the Kentucky Open Records Act (KORA), characterizing the request for over $415,000 in attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties as “gluttonous,” questioning the reasonableness of the fees and disputing how the penalty amount was calculated. 

In the response, MSU’s co-counsel in the case, Suzanne Marino, disputed WPSD’s assertion that Atkins’ ruling included a finding that MSU willfully defied KORA. While MSU’s response does acknowledge “the Court held that MSU ‘misused or misapplied the attorney client privilege, the personal privacy privilege, the preliminary records exemption and (used) a near categorical redaction scheme ‘at odds with existing law’,” it maintains that Atkins made no findings on the issue of willfulness. 

“The Court simply disagreed with the exemptions MSU invoked, in good faith, in its responses to WPSD’s Open Records requests,” the pleading states. “Much more is required under the Act to support an award of costs, fees, and penalties.” 

MSU further claimed there is no evidence of willfulness in the case, noting that it “undertook efforts at every juncture of WPSD’s requests and this resulting dispute to provide WPSD with nonexempt records responsive to its requests.” 

The issue of willfulness is key at this point in the case, which was initially filed last March over open records requests WPSD submitted in the fall of 2022. On Feb. 16, Atkins entered his summary judgment in favor of WPSD; and under KORA, the court may, at its discretion, award a requester attorneys’ fees and court costs in addition to statutory penalties “not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) for each day that he (or she) was denied the right to inspect or copy said public record” but only “upon a finding that the records were willfully withheld.”

Citing case law, Marino identified several factors that should be considered when determining whether an agency’s actions were willful – the extent of the agency’s withholding; the egregiousness of the withholding; if the withholding inflicted harm, including the costs of litigation, on the requester; and the extent to which the request serves an important public purpose – and concluded that none of them indicate that an award of penalties and fees would appropriate in the case.  

“The Court should reject any characterization of MSU’s minor-at-issue redactions as ‘egregious’ and, instead, focus on the volume of records that MSU produced,” the response states, noting that, out of more 1,000 pages of records, the contested redactions upon which Atkins’ ruling was based constituted approximately 2% of the total. 

“Further,” the pleading continues, “WPSD has not been harmed by MSU’s redactions; such a suggestion is ludicrous and disingenuous.” 

In the complaint, WPSD produced unredacted versions of two records that reporters obtained “from another source” to illustrate why it questioned the propriety of MSU redactions. Drawing on that admission, MSU’s response concludes that it is not possible for WPSD to be harmed by “MSU’s redactions to emails which WPSD already possessed in an unredacted format.”

In WPSD’s motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties, co-counsel Rick Adams noted that some of the unredacted records MSU produced after Atkins’ ruling revealed redactions of “clearly unexempt, benign material.” In the response, Marino argued that was itself evidence that the station was not harmed.

Regarding the requested $40,428.45 in attorneys’ fees and costs, MSU contested the rates charged by WPSD’s attorneys, lead counsel Michael Abate ($425) and Adams ($290), calling them unreasonable. 

Citing the affidavit Abate submitted with the motion for fees wherein he stated he discounted his hourly rate “because of the nature of the case and the important public issues involved,” MSU’s response states that, “while respective rates of $425 and $290 per hour may represent top market rates in Kentucky’s largest cities, they certainly do not reflect discounted rates in a dispute between a local media publication and a public agency,” noting that KORA allows for an award of “reasonable attorney’s fees, not top market rates.”

Abate and Adams cited four cases in their motion where courts deemed their hourly rates to be reasonable. In total, Abate’s charges, at $3,400, comprised less than 10% of WPSD’s final bill, while Adams, who did not discount his rates, billed $36,293 for his time on the case. 

The Sentinel contacted several attorneys in Murray to inquire about their hourly rates and found that most charge $250-$350 per hour; of the nine who responded, rates ranged from $180 to $350, and the average was $259 per hour. 

The response calls out one $58-charge on the invoice submitted with WPSD’s motion for researching a seemingly unrelated topic. It also criticizes WPSD’s counsel for charging their client to review the records MSU has produced, saying that practice “cyclically increased” WPSD’s attorneys’ fees and that “every effort MSU made to supplement its production obviously resulted in more attorney’s fees to both parties.”  

Going back to February 2023, when the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued its opinion on the appeal WPSD filed against MSU, time billed for reviewing records accounts for approximately $6,000 of the $40,000-plus invoice. 

With regard to WPSD’s request for statutory penalties in the amount of $374,850, the response questions both the number of records and the timeframe used in calculating the amount. 

According to WPSD’s motion for fees, that amount is based on 105 records being withheld for 357 days – from March 6, 2023, the day the complaint was filed, until the filing of the motion for fees on March 1.

“The 105 records represents the initial production of over-redacted records,” Adams explained in an email after the motion for fees and penalties was filed. “That was when MSU’s ‘willful’ behavior started, they had no basis to redact any of those records and Judge Atkins confirmed that in his summary judgment order. 

“After that initial production, we were able to negotiate with MSU to get them to remove most of the 105 redactions. By the time we filed our Motion for Summary Judgment, 21 records remained in dispute. Those negotiations were done at significant expense to WPSD and should never have occurred because we should have gotten the records at the outset. The removal of the redactions only confirmed that MSU never had any basis to withhold any of that information. The Open Records Act allows us to recover the fees and costs for obtaining all of the initially over-redacted records.”

MSU’s response takes note that the motion for summary judgment identified “about 20 redactions or withholdings with which WPSD took issue” and calls the court to “summarily reject WPSD’s confusing calculation that MSU improperly withheld … 105 records.”

According to the response, the records MSU “produced to the Court for its in camera review, comprised of each of the contested redactions listed in WPSD’s (motion), specifically contain 13 discrete email threads.” To that end, Marino argued that any potential penalty should be limited to 13 records. 

“The Court has not determined – nor has WPSD argued – that each and every single redaction MSU made across its voluminous productions to WPSD was improper,” the response states. “Thus, the Court should reject WPSD’s contention that MSU should be sanctioned for every single record it redacted. … More critically, WPSD appears to count each listed redaction as covering a distinct ‘record’ for purposes of a penalty calculation.”

In addition to decreasing the number of records, MSU asserted that WPSD’s timeframe for the penalty should be reduced as well, taking issue with the penalty period extending beyond Feb. 20, which is the day MSU produced the unredacted records pursuant to Atkins’ order. 

MSU also claimed that the duration of the litigation “was extended due to circumstances beyond MSU’s control,” citing a three-week period in June when “WPSD’s counsel had personal obligations” as an example. An email thread between counsel for the parties, which was filed as an exhibit with the response, shows that Adams took the time off for his wedding and honeymoon. 

“It would be unjust for MSU to face monetary penalties for periods of time during which MSU was prepared to work – and was working – in good faith to resolve this litigation with WPSD,” the response states. “It would defy logic to penalize MSU for a period of nearly one year where, during the entirety of that year, MSU has repeatedly provided WPSD with the records it has requested.

“If the Court ultimately decides to impose penalties in this case, which it should not do, the Court should measure such penalties in a manner that accounts for the realities of this case and takes into consideration MSU’s good faith efforts to comply with WPSD’s requests at every juncture.”

WPSD News Director Perry Boxx told the Sentinel in an email this morning that he thinks it is very important for people to fully understand why WPSD believes substantial penalties are warranted in this case. 

“The people responsible for this abuse of power are employed by the people of the Commonwealth,” Boxx wrote. “The documents they secreted away are the property of the people of the Commonwealth. Let’s all remember that. But someone hired them and is responsible, ultimately, for their actions. In this case, that someone, at least in terms of (MSU President) Bob Jackson, is the Board of Regents. The message to be sent is to them and to every public official contemplating willful violation of the laws of the Commonwealth that there are serious consequences. The Attorney General’s office said Jackson and his people violated the law. Now a veteran Circuit Judge said they not only violated the law they did it willfully. The judge used the word ‘scheme’ in his ruling.” 

Boxx continued, “If this Board of Regents, political appointees all, chooses to continue to ignore the actions of this president and his administration then we are justified in saying each and every member is complicit. Clearly, the Regents seem determined to turn a blind eye. The Chairman of the Board, Leon Owens, issued a statement shortly after the judge’s ruling that not only arrogantly & disrespectfully brushed off Judge Atkins ruling, but directly contradicted the facts and Judge Atkins. Said Owens, ‘The University has taken no actions in willful disregard of the law with respect to WPSD’s request.’ That’s not what the judge said. They don’t seem to be taking Judge Atkins very seriously.”

Atkins will hear arguments on WPSD’s motion for fees at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28, at the Christian County Justice Center in Hopkinsville.

Editor’s note: This story was written without input or review from our Board of Directors

CCHD begins search for new public health director

Jessica Paine
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CCHD begins search for new public health director

MURRAY – The Calloway County Health Department (CCHD) is looking for a new public health director after Jamie Hughes tendered his resignation to the Calloway County Board of Health last month. After two-and-a-half years serving in the role of director, Hughes stepped down Friday to join the human resources (HR) department at Baptist Health Paducah. 

“A position came up that is going to be a good fit for me and allow me to work in more of my area of expertise in the HR field,” Hughes explained. “People from this community who know me know that I am a person of faith and always will be, and I feel like things are not by accident. You don’t accidentally come upon a job as a (public health) director. Those things don’t just happen; I believe there is a reason behind it. … I feel like where I’m going is where I’m supposed to be next.” 

Calloway County was in the thralls of the Delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when Hughes took the reins in September 2021. While he had been the HR manager at the Marshall County Health Department (MCHD) for four years, he had no experience being a public health director. Three months in, the Omicron wave hit, bringing daily case counts nearly three times higher than previous records, but under his leadership, CCHD weathered the storm.  

Since that time, CCHD has grown from a staff of 12 to 15. Hughes revised numerous outdated policies, overhauled the fee schedule for environmental services and bolstered benefits packages for employees, among other things across his tenure. All the while meticulously keeping track of everything, yielding well-organized notes and spreadsheets to pass along to the next director. 

“Jamie has done a superb job since he became our Health Department Director,” Calloway County Judge-Executive Kenny Imes wrote in an email. “He has had good working relationships with both the local (Board of Health) and with the state officials. He has been excellent in getting state mandated rules and regulations, which are at times difficult to follow and understand, running very smoothly. Also, Jamie has been a good steward of taxpayers’ money in efficiently running the department.” 

Interestingly, Hughes’ background is not in public health. The Calloway County native holds a master’s degree in HR. He served as a minister at Poplar Spring Baptist Church until he joined the faculty at Mid-Continent University, teaching human resources (HR). Hughes said he had planned to retire from Mid-Continent, but his plans abruptly changed when the university laid off its entire staff in April 2014 ahead of its closure in June of that year.

He began working in public health in 2017, when he started at MCHD. There is often a steep learning curve for professionals entering the field because practice applications are unique when they are designed to address the health of a population – as opposed to an individual. Addressing public health concerns is also a function of government; therefore, health departments are strictly regulated through federal and state laws.

“When I started in public health, I learned a lot about how things are run through regs (regulations), how policies and procedures are a little different because they’re built on regs, being able to work with employees and understand the retirement system and its three tiers; there’s just a lot of different things that run in public health, and I had the opportunity to spend some time at Marshall, learning those things. 

“I had been a part of our COVID response (team) at Marshall. Basically, at that point in time, if you were in COVID response, you were just in COVID response. Even though my job was more admin side of it, I learned how to swab noses; I drove our RV around when we did testing and vaccines, and all those things. So, when (the CCHD director) position opened, I felt like I’ve been in that, so it’s not like anything that is new to me. So, when I came over here, I brought in some experience, but again, it was kind of new.” 

Hughes gave the credit for his success transitioning into the director role to Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack and his focused efforts to foster collaboration between health departments. 

“He has built a network of directors that help one another, that cross county boundaries across the state,” Hughes said. In that spirit, the new director was assigned a mentor, Hopkins County Health Department Director Denise Beach. “She helped me with things when I had questions. She came up here and met with me.”

“Every health department has its own personality depending on what the community needs, and a lot of times, that brings the directors that are needed for that kind of personality,” he continued, adding that, with that, comes different areas of expertise. “So, being able to access all of that was great. For me, coming in as a director was so much easier because of the network Dr. Stack had set up. I think if you talk to any director, you’d hear the same thing.”

Hughes said that is one thing he will miss about working in public health – coming up with creative solutions to problems impacting the community, whether that is helping residents meet their nutritional needs, monitoring infectious diseases, ensuring that local restaurants are safely storing and preparing the food they serve or addressing problems that surface in the aftermath of natural disasters. 

“One of the best things about working in public health is working with the community in a different way,” Hughes said. “For example, during the flood (that occurred in eastern Kentucky in July 2022), some of the roads they needed to use to get to people, they couldn’t really use. They were using horses to get to some of these places, to go give people shots or vaccines or whatever was needed, so health departments were literally using ATVs and things like that to get to people. 

“There’s something special about that – and I’m not saying hospitals wouldn’t do that – in public health, that’s our job. How do we get to them? And how do we help them? They can’t always come to you – it would be great if they could – but how do we go to them when they need us to? I use the flood as an example, but there are many. Public health does so many things, and it’s continually changing. As people change, culture changes, how (public health) operates will change. I’m excited to see what that is.” 

Although he is moving on, Hughes said he is grateful for being able to serve the residents of Calloway County, specifically. 

“It’s been great to be a part of the community that I was born and raised in, met the love of my life in. I’ve lived in (several places), but if anyone ever asks me where my ‘home’ is, I always say, ‘Murray;’ and it always will be. So, I really do appreciate the opportunity to serve the community as director for the period of time that I did.”

Now, the search is on for a new public health director. In the meantime, Stephanie Hays, who worked for CCHD for 25 years until she retired from her position as finance administrator last year, has returned as interim director. 

“In beginning to think about an interim director, Stephanie Hays was on the very top of each of the board member’s mind,” Imes wrote. “Her years of previous service at our health department has been an extremely valuable asset with a thorough knowledge of all the different duties that are required of the department as well as the human resources and fiscal aspects.”

Hughes expressed similar sentiments, saying that he takes comfort in knowing that the department will be in good hands with Hays at the helm.

“Ultimately, she knows how to get it done and knows how (CCHD) should operate to operate efficiently,” Hughes said. “She has years and years of experience working specifically here (at CCHD); she is a Calloway County native; I know she has the health department’s best interest in mind; and she has the trust of the board. With all of that, I can feel comfortable knowing that there should be no hiccups whatsoever. 

“I think, when the next director comes, that (CCHD) will not be disheveled or in any kind of bad situation but that it will be moving forward. They will just get on a moving train; now, they’re the conductor, but it’s been moving the whole time.” 

Imes added that the board has confidence in Hays and her ability to effectively lead the department. Because of that, there is no sense of urgency to make a “snap decision” or otherwise rush the process, which can be quite lengthy due to bureaucratic “red tape” involved with state government, just to fill the vacancy; the board can take its time in finding the right candidate for the permanent position. 

For more information about the public health director position, including the necessary qualifications, visit CCHD’s Facebook page. Applications are submitted online and will be accepted from now until Friday, March 22, at 4:30 p.m.  

City officials respond to storm siren failure

Jessica Paine
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City officials respond to storm siren failure

MURRAY – As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, Kentucky held its annual Statewide Tornado Drill on Wednesday at 9:07 a.m. While the majority of the storm sirens in Calloway County did work as expected, two of the three sirens within Murray’s city limits did not sound. 

Calloway County Emergency Management Director Josh Kerr said that both sirens in Hazel and all of the sirens on Murray State University’s campus went off without a hitch, but only one of the three within Murray’s city limits sounded. The siren located on Doran Road did work, but those on Glendale Road and in Riviera Courts stayed silent. 

The storm sirens are sounded whenever the National Weather Service (NWS) issues a tornado warning for Murray and/or Hazel. In accordance with NWS guidelines and the county’s emergency plan, the sirens are tested once each quarter. As noted in a press release about the statewide drill, the tests “allow officials to more accurately determine the proper functioning of each siren, which is difficult to do under actual threat conditions.” 

Unbeknownst to many, while the quarterly tests are coordinated through Calloway County Emergency Management, the county does not actually own or operate any of the storm sirens within its borders. Murray and Hazel own and maintain the sirens within their city limits; similarly, Murray State owns and maintains the sirens located on campus. 

“I will assure you that as soon as we were made aware of this, we started trying to find out who could diagnose the problem,” said Murray Mayor Bob Rogers in an email. “We don’t want to have an emergency and not be able to warn our residents.”

Murray Police Chief Sam Bierds said on Thursday that both sirens are functioning properly now, but he also confirmed that those sirens did not sound during the last quarterly test in December. At the time, a technician assessed the sirens and was able to repair both of them, but it was determined that one on Glendale Road needed to be replaced. 

“They apparently got it working at the time, and now it has failed again,” Bierds said of the Riviera Courts siren. “So, I’m afraid that we’re going to have the (same) issue with the Riviera siren that we’ve got with the Glendale Road siren. 

This siren on Glendale Road, just west of 12th Street, also did not sound during the recent test.

“Those two sirens are relatively old. When I had the company come down and look at our siren on Glendale Road, the issue is the fuse keeps blowing, and that basically cuts power off to the whole system. They’re remote set off by a radio system; so we punch a code into a number pad in our dispatch center, and that sends the radio signal out that then sets the siren off. If that fuse blows, then the whole system goes down; and for whatever reason, we’ve been trying to piecemeal it together for, I guess, quite some time. When the repairman came down, he (said it) needs to be replaced. So, I’m going to have him come out and look at our Riviera sirens to see if we’re in the same spot.” 

Bierds, who celebrates his first anniversary as chief later this month, said that, while he had not thought of storm sirens falling under the purview of the police chief, it makes sense because the signal that sets off the sirens comes from his dispatchers.  

“It’s not a police matter; it’s not a crime matter; but it’s a public safety matter, and we do have the dispatch center,” Bierds said. “When the mayor asked, ‘Do you mind looking into this?’ Absolutely. Because this is where my family lives. This is as much my community as it is anyone else’s, and storm preparedness is important.” 

“You know, I live on that side of town,” he added, “and if for some reason I can’t hear the siren go off… or my mom, who lives on that side of town… it’s just there’s such a personal connection for me and really everybody in the city government who lives and works in this city. We take it very seriously.”

Since being charged with the responsibility of overseeing the storm sirens, he has called a technician to work on them at least twice, not including Wednesday’s failure. 

“The thing is they can be repaired enough to pass the repair test, but the longevity of those repairs is what’s not lasting, which is why we need to replace them,” Bierds explained. “We can repair it, and maybe they can last a few weeks, a few months, but they don’t make it to the next quarterly test. We don’t know when they’re going down unless we’re going out there every day and testing them, and I think the citizens would be a little upset if I set the sirens off every day.” 

Bierds acknowledged that cost is an issue but said that the city has been diligent in looking for cost-effective ways to replace the Glendale siren since it failed in December. 

“I think we’ve found a pretty good option for what we need to do; but if we have to replace two sirens, we’re going to have to replace two sirens,” he said. “The big thing is that as soon as we knew that we had an issue, this is something we’ve been working on.” 

The plan is to completely replace the siren units; that means new radio components, battery back-up and speakers. Bierds said that the unit they are looking at has a range of seven to 10 miles, which will greatly enhance coverage across the city.

Once everything is in place in terms of financing, Bierds said it should take three to six weeks to have the new sirens operational. Rogers has been in communication with Murray Electric System General Manager Tony Thompson about using some of their bucket trucks to assist with the installation of the replacement units. Officials will also need to secure a crane to hoist the new unit on top of the existing poles. 

“If they were more frequent,” Bierds said of the quarterly tests, “we would probably know a bit more, but obviously, you have to do these things on a schedule. And we do the tests, and we’re aware of the issue and actively working to fix it. In a perfect world, we would’ve had everything installed and replaced before this quarterly test, but sometimes when you’re looking at a multi-thousand-dollar project, you’ve got to take a little time to make sure you’ve got all your ducks in a row before you pull the trigger on it. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.” 

Read all of The Sentinel’s coverage of this issue:

City officials respond to storm siren failure (3/8/24)

Storm sirens still not working (5/8/24)

Storm siren update (5/26/24)

Out with the old: City erects new storm siren on Glendale Road (7/22/24)

MSU and WPSD respond to motion for fees and penalties

Jessica Paine
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MSU and WPSD respond to motion for fees and penalties

MURRAY – Murray State University Board of Regents Chairman Leon Owens released a statement after Friday’s quarterly board meeting in response to a motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties WPSD-TV filed Monday in its lawsuit against the university, marking the first time a Murray State official has publicly commented on the case.

The university has largely remained mum regarding the dispute, which centers around two open records requests the Paducah television station submitted to the university in the fall of 2022 after allegations surfaced amidst highly-publicized misconduct proceedings against a former local circuit judge that administrators attempted to interfere with reporting by MSU’s NPR-affiliate radio station WKMS-FM.   

WPSD appealed MSU’s response to its first request to the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The station largely prevailed in the OAG decision, and MSU produced more heavily-redacted records. Shortly thereafter, WPSD filed suit in Calloway Circuit Court against the university to compel the release of records related to “MSU’s attempts to interfere with reporting by WKMS.”

The university declined to comment on the lawsuit when it was filed in March 2023, but it did release a statement related to WKMS.  

“The university has provided consistent financial support to WKMS for many years including during the pandemic,” the statement read, in part. “This financial support, future work and new leadership for WKMS allows us to fully pursue WKMS’ vision which is as follows: ‘WKMS is a beacon for growing regional culture as a part of Murray State University’s public service investment in our communities through thoughtful journalism, conversation, music and arts.’”

On subsequent filings, MSU has declined to comment. Although, after Calloway Circuit Special Judge John Atkins issued his summary judgment in favor of WPSD last month, ruling that MSU willfully violated the Kentucky Open Records Act, the university did release a brief statement that said it respected the court’s decision and reiterated its commitment to student success and academic excellence. 

When asked for comment on WPSD’s motion for sanctions in excess of $415,000, the university returned to declining to comment on pending litigation. 

Friday’s meeting concluded with a closed session to discuss “pending litigation against or on behalf of” the university, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes. Whether the lawsuit against WPSD specifically was discussed is not known, but shortly after the meeting adjourned, MSU released Owens’ statement.

“In the fall of 2022, Murray State University responded to several expansive requests for records from WPSD,” Owens wrote. “The University worked cordially with WPSD and their counsel throughout this process and spent hundreds of hours and significant resources compiling documents. Unfortunately, the University’s good faith efforts, which resulted in the disclosure of more than 1,000 pages to WPSD, were met with a lawsuit. 

“Prior to the Court’s February 16, 2024 ruling, WPSD had already received hundreds of pages of records from the University, many of which were featured in WPSD’s news stories. Despite its good faith belief about the applicability of three very narrow Open Records Act exemptions, which the University applied to a very limited number of records, the University promptly provided WPSD with revised records upon receipt of the Court’s Order.”

Likewise, documents filed Monday indicate MSU produced those records within two business days of the judgment’s entry.  

“The University is eager to respond to WPSD’s motion for fees and costs promptly through proper channels in this litigation,” Owens continued. “The University has taken no actions in willful disregard of the law with respect to WPSD’s requests. As such, WPSD is not entitled to fees and penalties under the Act, let alone fees and penalties in the egregious amount sought. The University has fulfilled numerous requests for open records, in accordance with the Act and without dispute on a near-daily basis, and it takes its responsibility in this area very seriously.”

A search of the OAG open records decisions revealed that, since 1993, five open records appeals have been filed against MSU, which comprises 19% of all appeals filed against public agencies in Murray and Calloway County. The only agency with more appeals during that time period is the Calloway Circuit Clerk with seven appeals, the majority of which occurred between 1997 and 2003. 

Two of those appeals were from individuals seeking records about themselves (10-ORD-089 and 14-ORD-002), and three were from media outlets – the Kentucky New Era, seeking records related to the construction of the Regional Postsecondary Education Center in Hopkinsville (02-ORD-13); the Louisville Courier-Journal, seeking records related to the 1998 death of Michael Minger, a student who died in a fire in Hester Hall (04-ORD-030); and WPSD (23-ORD-024).

“After months of unnecessary, unjustified, protracted litigation, and hundreds of hours spent producing thousands of pages of records at a tremendous cost to the University,” Owens wrote in conclusion, “administrators, faculty and staff look forward to returning all of their energy, efforts and resources to their students, and the amazing teaching and learning that occurs at Murray State University.”

On Tuesday, WPSD News Director Perry Boxx released a statement about the motion for fees and penalties, echoing the assertions Atkins made in his succinct February ruling and drawing particular attention to the judge’s own characterization of MSU’s actions as a “scheme.” 

“Judge Atkins’ order described the actions of the University under the leadership of President Bob Jackson, a former state senator, as a ‘near categorical redaction scheme at ‘odds with existing law,’’” Boxx wrote on Tuesday. “A ‘scheme.’”

“The judge’s order specifically ‘adopts’ the arguments our attorneys made about the behavior of Jackson’s administration,” he continued. “A university is supposed to be a center of learning, a place where truth and knowledge are valued, a beacon of light in darkness.” 

Boxx called MSU’s response to WPSD’s open records requests “the most arrogant, cynical and contemptuous of the people’s right to know” he has ever personally seen from a public agency in his 44 years of managing news operations.

“It was an unprincipled, indefensible, egregious and unconscionable attempt to shield remarkably bad behavior,” he added. 

Boxx pointed out that, as WPSD’s “reporting unfolded,” Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents adopted an editorial integrity policy for its NPR-affiliate station, WKU Public Radio. 

According to reporting from WKU Public Radio on the August board meeting when regents adopted the policy, WKU President Timothy Caboni “said it is important for the board to publicly validate its support for the editorial independence of public media.”

“As president,” Caboni told WKU after the meeting, “what I want everyone to understand is that it also has complete autonomy to ask any questions it wants to ask, pursue any stories it wants to pursue, without any interference from the institution, its leadership, or its PR program.”

In his statement, Boxx noted that such an act is “something that Jackson and the Board of Regents at Murray (State) have so far been content to ignore.” 

Due to a scheduling conflict, WPSD’s motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties, which was previously scheduled for hearing next week, will now be heard on Thursday, March 28, at 1:30 p.m. at the Christian County Justice Center. 

Editor’s note: This story was written without input or review from our Board of Directors.

WPSD suggests over $415K in sanctions for KORA violations

Jessica Paine
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WPSD suggests over $415K in sanctions for KORA violations

MURRAY – On the heels of a summary judgment ruling in their favor, attorneys for Paducah television station WPSD-TV asked Calloway Circuit Special Judge John Atkins to require Murray State University to pay the station over $415,000 in penalties and fees for willfully violating the Kentucky Open Records Act (KORA) when it responded to open records requests submitted by the station in the fall of 2022.

WPSD’s lead counsel Michael Abate, a First Amendment attorney with Louisville firm Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird, filed a motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties this afternoon, asking the court for reimbursement of more than $40,000 in attorneys’ fees and court costs and to impose statutory penalties in the amount of $374,850 for withholding 105 records for 357 days.

“Although that is a substantial amount,” Abate wrote of the proposed penalty in today’s filing, “it is far less than the maximum allowed under the Act, which permits up to $25 per day, per record, from the moment MSU willfully denied WPSD’s request. KRS 61.882(5). Here, the maximum award allowed by the Act far exceeds $1 million dollars.”

The dispute between the parties, which has included an appeal to Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in addition to the civil lawsuit, centers on two open records requests (ORR) WPSD submitted to MSU in October and November 2022, respectively, and the heavily-redacted documents the university produced in response to those requests. 

WPSD filed suit against MSU in Calloway Circuit Court in March 2023 and, in November, filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the court to enter a ruling in the case based on pleadings, exhibits and affidavits submitted without going to trial. A hearing on the motion was held Jan. 24.

On Feb. 16, Atkins entered a succinct order that wholly adopted the arguments WPSD made in its motion wherein the station clearly held that MSU’s actions constituted a willful violation of KORA. 

Atkins reviewed both the original and redacted records before ruling that the university “misused or misapplied” attorney-client privilege, personal privacy and preliminary records exemptions to redact the requested records; furthermore, he agreed with WPSD’s assertion that MSU’s application of broad categorical exemptions was “at odds with the law.”

He ordered the university to “comply without unreasonable delay with the only redactions tolerated by this Order being ones that concern purely personal or private information such as phone numbers and other personal descriptors which have nothing to do with this litigation,” which MSU did on Feb. 20, according to documents filed today.

The judge also granted WPSD’s request to file a motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties, signaling his openness to sanctions against the university. 

“MSU’s original sin was the gross over-redaction of these records at the outset of this case,” today’s filing states. “It had a years’ worth of opportunity to voluntarily remedy that error, but instead it forced WPSD to engage in drawn-out, expensive negotiations to obtain public records it should have received in 5 days. MSU’s slow-drip production was certainly done ‘without plausible justification’ and in ‘conscious disregard’ of WPSD’s rights under the Act.”

WPSD’s attorneys submitted invoices for attorneys’ fees and court costs totaling $40,428.45 in addition to $374,850 in penalties. According to the pleading, that amount was determined using the rate of $10 per day for each of the 105 records improperly redacted and/or withheld for 357 days – from March 6, 2023, the day the lawsuit was filed, through today.

The motion cites a landmark open records case brought by the Louisville Courier Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader against the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) wherein the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld a $756,000 sanction imposed by a lower court. Notably, $756,000 was not the maximum penalty that could have been assessed in that case either. Those fines – based on 140 records withheld for 540 days – were also calculated at the rate of $10 per record, per day.

“MSU’s willful defiance of its transparency obligations deserves serious sanction from this Court,” the motion states. “… MSU’s initial categorical redaction and its year-long, stubborn refusal to abandon many of those redactions ‘reveals a culture of secrecy’ within MSU reflecting a ‘misguided belief that the Open Records Act is merely an ideal—a suggestion to be taken when it is convenient and flagrantly disregarded when it is not.’ Only ‘meaningful’ statutory penalties can pierce that culture of secrecy and put MSU on notice that its willful defiance of the Open Records Act will not be countenanced by Kentucky’s courts.”

WPSD’s motion for attorneys’ fees and statutory penalties is scheduled for hearing on Wednesday, March 6, at 9 a.m.  

Neither WPSD-TV News Director Perry Boxx nor MSU Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Shawn Touney immediately responded to requests for comment on this story. 

Editor’s note: This story was written without input or review from our Board of Directors

There’s still time, brothers & sisters

Constance Alexander
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There’s still time, brothers & sisters

By Constance Alexander

The fact that the Kentucky constitution requires the current legislative session end no later than April 15 evokes images from the final scene from Nevil Shute’s classic end-of-the-world novel, On the Beach:

Random litter drifts, tumble-weed style, through eerily empty city streets, while a battered banner, dangling from its moorings, announces, “There’s still time, brother.”

For Kentuckians there is still time – just barely – to weigh in with legislators on a range of bills fixin’ to become laws unless voters speak up.

The Kentucky Senate, with a total of 38 senators, numbers 31 Republicans to 7 Democrats. The General Assembly, comprised of 100 representatives, boasts 80 Republicans and 20 Democrats. This strong supermajority means that voters need to get informed about proposed legislation BEFORE it becomes law and contact their elected representatives – by phone, email or snail mail – to let them know your opinions and suggestions.

With a law-making process often likened to the messier aspects of making sausage, voters shoulder the responsibility of contacting legislators during the session. Waiting until November elections is too late.

Elected representatives communicate with constituents via email, online, and in local papers, but their self-reporting does not necessarily produce unbiased information voters can rely on. So where does an interested citizen begin?

Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission is an invaluable resource. It covers committee staffing, bill drafting, oversight of the state budget and educational reform, among other topics, essential to voters. Through the LRC, citizens can track the performance of their legislators and the bills they promote in Frankfort. Voters can call and leave messages for their legislators, or email them directly, to provide feedback and suggestions on votes that will transform a bill into state law. 

The challenge for voters is the need to consult a variety of publications that cover politics, which requires wading into an environment steeped in social media and awash with multiple sources of information, some more reliable than others, and often blocked by paywalls.

On a good day, my own sources of information about Kentucky politics and policies include a patchwork: WKMS-FM, Murray’s National Public Radio affiliate; Kentucky Lantern; Hoptown Chronicle; The Murray Sentinel; University of Kentucky’s Institute for Rural Journalismand Community Issues; Forward Kentucky; and Northern Kentucky Tribune. 

When it comes to legislative knowledge and insights, delivered in scrupulously balanced coverage, KET’s director of public affairs, Renee Shaw, is a dynamo. She serves as host of KET’s weeknight public affairs program Kentucky Edition; the signature public policy discussion series Kentucky Tonight; the weekly interview series Connections; election coverage; and KET Forums. 

Comment on Kentucky, KET’s longest-running public affairs program, broadcasts every Friday night. A staple for those who seek supporting details behind current Kentucky headlines, Comment maintains consistently high ethical standards. Host Bill Bryant invites journalists from across the Commonwealth to engage in in-depth discussions about the week’s biggest news stories.

This legislative session, I am following five bills and contacting my representatives to express my opinions on how they should vote on each one. Without feedback, legislators cannot know what we think and how their votes matter to constituents. 

If you do not know who represents you in Frankfort, a visit to the Legislative Research Commission site is a great place to start. 

Jason Howell is the senator representing Calloway, Crittendon, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Lyon and Trigg counties. 

Mary Beth Imes represents Calloway and Trigg counties in the House.

Here are some of the bills they will be voting on between now and the end of the current legislative session:

Senate Bill 6, aims to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in public universities and colleges. It sailed through the senate and was sent to the House on a party line vote, according to Kentucky Lantern, with 26 Republicans voting in favor and seven Democrats voting against. 

The bill would allow the attorney general to bring a civil action against a university or college that penalizes a student or employee for rejecting any of 16 “discriminatory” concepts enumerated in the bill. Universities and colleges also would be required to publish course descriptions, syllabi and assigned or recommended textbooks online, among other new requirements. 

House Bill 387 seeks to lower the educational requirements for substitute teachers in Kentucky. Subs currently are required to have at least 64 hours of college credit. If the bill becomes law, high school diplomas or the equivalent would be enough to qualify for a one-year emergency certification from the Education Professional Standards Board. 

House Bill 141 wants to make water fluoridation programs optional. Based on the premise that fluoridation is “forced medication,” the governing bodies of water systems could decide whether to participate in fluoridation programs. 

House Bill 509 would amend the Kentucky Open Records Law to make it more difficult for the general public and the press to gain access to the records and meetings of public agencies. Rep. John Hodgson has recently declared he plans to revise the bill after it, according to the Kentucky Lantern, ignited protests from open government advocates and Kentucky Press Association.

According to an email from Hodgson quoted in The Lantern, “A number of involved private citizens and constituents took me up on that offer and we had some very constructive dialog about dozens of specific examples in their experience base.”

House Bill 148 which has been proposed more than several times in recent years, would finally eliminate the so-called “pink tax” on menstrual materials. Rep. Lisa Wilner, the bill’s sponsor, pointed out the “fundamental injustice” of the tax. 

“To compound the issue,” she said, “Kentucky is now in the minority of states that still profit from menstruation by taxing medically necessary period products.” 

This is just a smattering of bills that are moving through the system; there are scores more. Waiting until election day to contact your legislators is too late, but there’s still time between now and April to do your civic duty and hold legislators accountable for their action or inaction. 

Author’s note: In 1989, when the publisher of Murray Ledger & Times asked me to write a column, he said, “You can write about anything, as long as it’s not political or controversial.” From then until December 31, 2023, Main Street, readers followed the column weekly, first in the Murray paper, and then in Kentucky Forward and Northern Kentucky Tribune.

In 2024, I am exploring the possibility of launching Left on Main, to incorporate more political and controversial topics. Please read and share this first installment and let me know what you think at constancealexander@twc.com.

Recipient of a Governor’s Award in the Arts, Constance Alexander has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies for her poetry, plays, prose, and civic journalism projects. Contact her at constancealexander@twc.com.

TV station prevails in dispute over public records

Jessica Paine
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TV station prevails in dispute over public records

MURRAY – The end to a long-standing dispute between Paducah television station WPSD-TV and Murray State University over public records is in sight after Calloway Circuit Special Judge John Atkins issued his summary judgment Friday, ruling the university improperly redacted records it produced in response to open records requests submitted by the station, in violation of the Kentucky Open Records Act (KORA).  

Atkins, who reviewed both the original and redacted records before ruling, confirmed WPSD’s suspicions that the university “misused or misapplied” attorney-client privilege, personal privacy and preliminary records exemptions to redact the requested records; furthermore, he agreed with WPSD’s assertion that MSU’s application of broad categorical exemptions was contrary to the law.

“Judge Atkins issued a clear and unmistakable order that MSU used ‘a near categorical redaction scheme,’ his words, at odds with the law to withhold information the people had a right to know,” said WPSD-TV News Director Perry Boxx in a statement. “This victory for open government is good news at a time when the legislature continues to try to chop away at open records law. Open government laws are fruit of the First Amendment. They are the legal mechanisms by which journalists fulfill our role in helping perfect and preserve democracy. … We look forward to a review of all of the documents in question.”

MSU also provided a statement in response to the ruling: “We respect the court’s decision as we maintain our commitment toward academic excellence, student success and thoughtful public service in our west Kentucky region, the Commonwealth and beyond.”

The lawsuit stems from two open records requests (ORR) Boxx submitted to MSU in the fall of 2022, the first of which was submitted on Oct. 20. That two-part request sought records related to WKMS-FM, MSU’s NPR-affiliate radio station, going back to March 2022. 

Part “A” requested communications between former Circuit Judge James (Jamie) Jameson, former WKMS Station Manager Chad Lampe* and MSU administrators, including President Robert (Bob) Jackson, related to an ORR WKMS submitted to the Administrative Office of the Courts for surveillance footage of the judge walking in the courthouse after hours in his underwear. Part “B” requested communications between nine other university employees about “WKMS News.”

Three days earlier, WPSD reporters were present as Lampe was called to the stand on day one of the final hearing in misconduct proceedings against Jameson brought by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC). Among the seven charges against the judge was a claim that Jameson attempted to pressure Lampe to kill any potential stories related to WKMS’ ORR by contacting Jackson about the request and later informing Lampe that Jackson “was not happy” about it. 

While Lampe’s testimony centered around Jameson, it also suggested that tensions were high between university administrators and the radio station at the time and for reasons beyond the conversations with the judge. 

For example, when asked if he had received any punishment over the exchanges with Jameson, Lampe carefully chose his words, saying, “There was no direct punishment to me, but the public radio station had received changes in their budgetary allocation as you would see lawmakers contact university officials. … I can say that the station – not necessarily me, but the station – could receive some negative blow back from the administration.”

Ultimately, the JCC found Jameson guilty on all charges and removed him from office. 

MSU responded to Boxx’s ORR on Nov. 3, and in it, invoked the First Amendment to withhold records related to WKMS.

“(T)here is a competing interest as to the freedom of the press,” penned MSU General Counsel Robert Miller in the university’s response. “Permitting the public to engage in fishing expeditions by searching the files of journalists and/or agency of the press, undermines and dissuades the press from fulfilling its Constitutionally protected freedom.”

The university did produce 31 heavily-redacted records in response to part A, claiming attorney-client privilege and KORA’s preliminary records and personal privacy exemptions for the redactions, but denied part B, calling it unduly burdensome, both for lacking specificity and being too cumbersome. 

WPSD formally appealed MSU’s partial denial of the October ORR to the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (OAG) two weeks later and also challenged the redactions. In the end, the OAG largely sided with the television station on many of its complaints and rejected MSU’s use of the First Amendment to withhold records related to WKMS. 

Boxx submitted his second ORR on Nov. 16. It was significantly broader in scope, covering six subjects and seeking records as far back as April 2020. By the end of December, MSU produced over 800 pages of, again, heavily-redacted records in response to the November request, citing attorney-client privilege, preliminary records and personal privacy exemptions. 

Following the release of the OAG’s opinion in February 2023, MSU produced more records that were responsive to the October request. But WPSD continued to contest the propriety of many of the redactions. 

In March 2023, WPSD filed suit against MSU in Calloway Circuit Court “to compel disclosure of public documents related to MSU’s attempts to interfere with reporting by WKMS,” requesting an injunction ordering the university to produce the records responsive to both of Boxx’s ORRs in their entirety and for sanctions against MSU for willfully violating KORA.

Beyond the initial filings, there was little traction in the case until last November, when WPSD filed its motion for summary judgment, which is a request for the court to enter a ruling based on the pleadings filed in a case along with exhibits or affidavits without going to trial.

First Amendment attorney Michael Abate, WPSD’s lead counsel, argued in his motion that “a cursory review” of MSU’s redactions shows willful misapplication of the exemptions permissible under KORA and asserting the conclusion that the university’s intention was “to withhold information it would rather not see the light of day.” 

In response, MSU’s lead counsel Alina Klimkina characterized the television station’s lawsuit against the university as an attempt to “harass and unduly burden (MSU), and this Court, in hopes of generating a story that does not exist.” 

Abate doubled-down on the willfulness argument in WPSD’s reply, accusing MSU of employing a “strategy of withholding public records until their obviously inadequate denials are challenged through litigation (that) turns the Act’s presumption of disclosure on its head and defies the ‘basic policy’ adopted by the General Assembly that ‘free and open examination of public records is in the public interest and the exceptions provided for by KRS 61.878 or otherwise provided by law shall be strictly construed.’”

The parties convened on Jan. 24 for the summary judgment hearing. To expediate the process, Atkins suggested narrowing the scope of the dispute from eight subjects across two ORRs to only part A in the initial October request.  

“The record and the pleadings reflect the contact that was had by President Jackson with WKMS – it was alluded to in the pleadings and was part of the evidence in Judge Jameson’s proceedings that led to his dismissal from the bench,” Atkins said. “I think those records, in light of the background information, show that something exists, and I think it’s relevant to the problem in WPSD’s complaint.”

WPSD’s co-counsel William (Rick) Adams maintained the station was entitled to all of the records it requested. Both Adams and Klimkina advised the fastest way to bring resolution in the matter was for Atkins to examine the records in camera. Atkins agreed.  

Three weeks later, Atkins, based on his in camera examination of the records “that comprise the subject matter of this litigation” as well as his consideration of “the arguments of counsel, the evidence presented, the pleadings, exhibits and relevant precedents cited in our Commonwealth’s lengthy Open Records Act jurisprudence,” ruled in favor of WPSD. 

He ordered MSU to “comply without unreasonable delay with the only redactions tolerated by this Order being ones that concern purely personal or private information such as phone numbers and other personal descriptors which have nothing to do with this litigation.”

He also granted WPSD’s request to file a motion for attorneys’ fees, costs and statutory penalties. Under KORA, judges may impose statutory penalties if records were “willfully withheld,” not to exceed $25 per day for each day the “right to inspect or copy said public record” was denied. 

A Kentucky Court of Appeals opinion published in 2016 established precedent for assessing penalties on KORA violations on a per-record, per-day basis in a case brought by the Louisville Courier Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader against the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) wherein it upheld a $756,000 fine ordered by a lower court. 

The intent behind KORA “is served not only by the limited reading of exceptions to such a rule … but also by liberal reading of those provisions aimed at the meaningful punishment of those who willfully obfuscate the public’s ability to examine non-exempt records,” Judge Irv Maze wrote for the majority in the 2016 opinion. 

WPSD’s motion identified 21 records – 15 from the initial October request and six from the November request, four of which have been withheld – which Atkins already adjudicated as improperly redacted. That could translate to a maximum penalty in excess of $245,000 plus attorneys’ fees. 

“We believe the University has willfully violated the law in trying to hide documents from the public, and that a substantial fee and penalty sanction is appropriate under the statute,” Abate, who also represented the Courier Journal in the landmark case against CHFS, wrote in an email last November. 

Any sanctions against MSU will be imposed by way of a separate order, provided WPSD’s attorneys file a motion requesting penalties and fees before the Feb. 26 deadline.

*Editor’s note: Chad Lampe now serves on the Sentinel’s Board of Directors. This story was written and published without input or review from the board.  

Library announces opening on Board of Trustees

Jessica Paine
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Library announces opening on Board of Trustees

MURRAY – President of the Calloway County Public Library Board of Trustees Lance Allison announced his resignation from the board at last night’s regular monthly meeting. Despite the surprise announcement, trustees are hopeful about finding a qualified replacement based on the overwhelming number of highly-qualified applicants who threw their names in the hat the last time there was an opening on the board.

“It’s been a joy,” Allison said.  “I appreciate everybody’s confidence in me to lead the board and then also just allowing me to be involved. I definitely want to think (Calloway County Judge-Executive Kenny) Imes for the opportunity that he let me have in coming onto the board.” 

Allison, who was first appointed to the board in October 2020 to fill the remainder of Winfield Rose’s term following his resignation earlier that year and has served as board president since November 2022, is stepping down to begin a new job in March as President/CEO of One Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development in New Albany, Indiana.

“I specifically wanted to be on this board for two reasons,” he shared, “(One was) because I believe in the staff and the library, and my dad and mom – especially my dad – was a massive fan of this library; and the second reason was I felt like we needed to rally the board to be more positive and forward-thinking and less controversial and antagonistic towards the staff. I think that (in) the time that I’ve been on, we have had a fantastic group of people here and that we’ve done that.

“We had a lot of controversy around this new building. I think we can all agree that this, ultimately, was the best decision that was ever made for this library, and it’s going to have positive ramifications for 50 more years; so, I’m proud of that, but I’m proud of that because the staff and Mignon (Rutledge, CCPL executive director) and everyone led the charge on that and then we were a group of people that supported them on that. I got lucky; it’s been quite easy being on the board.”

Allison closed his remarks by saying that he is excited for the CCPL’s future. “I was thinking on the way here that I’m super excited because when we had the open position that Vonnie (Hays-Adams) refilled on her term, there was a room full of awesome candidates. So, if anything gets in the paper, I definitely want it to be all those people who applied (before), apply again because there wasn’t a bad apple in the bunch on those folks.”

When Hays-Adams’ previous term expired in August, 10 people, including Hays-Adams, applied for the open seat. The board voted to contact those previous applicants to see if they want to be included in the application process for Allison’s seat, but anyone who is interested is welcome to apply. Applications will be accepted from Friday, Feb. 16, until Friday, March 1.

In other business, Rutledge highlighted the high volume of patrons taking advantage of CCPL’s passport services during her director’s report. She praised Circulation and Passport Program Manager Sierra Foster for her hard work in meeting the demands for the passport service, noting that there are appointments on the books every day.

Although Rutledge, Business Manager Wyneth Herrington and Acquisitions/Collection Development Manager/Community Relations Coordinator Sandy Linn are certified acceptance agents and can process the applications, they are hoping to add another dedicated staff member for that service line in the near future.

President of 5253 Design Group Chris Cottongim, who attended the meeting virtually, reported that the roofing contractor found a few issues while investigating a roof leak and corrected them, noting that the repairs are covered by the warranty. Rutledge reported that there were no leaks following the heavy rains on Monday. 

In the financial report, Herrington advised that the library’s annual audit, which is usually presented at the February board meeting, was not ready and will be presented by the auditors next month.

Noting that tax revenue has continued to fill the coffers, Herrington said that, at the end of January, the library held around $229,000 in its checking account, $10,000 in its construction account and $3.3 million in its money market account, bringing CCPL’s total holdings to approximately $3.4 million. The next board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, at the library.

HB 509 seeks to fundamentally change the KY Open Records Act

Guest Contributor
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HB 509 seeks to fundamentally change the KY Open Records Act

By Amye Bensenhaver

The annual legislative assault on Kentucky’s open government laws has commenced in earnest, but this year with a vengeance. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the future of the Kentucky Open Records Act is at stake.

Sponsored by Rep. John Hodgson (R-Fisherville), Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Middletown), and Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect), HB 509 establishes what The Bowling Green Daily Times once described as “a codified way to evade watchdogs, both in the press and the general public.”

BURYING THE LEDE

Behind an elaborate smokescreen of compliance with recent court opinions directing public agencies to assign public email addresses to “officers, employees, board members, and commission members. . .for the purpose of conducting the business of the public agency,” is a proposed statutory scheme that chokes public access off at its throat.

HB 509 establishes an extraordinarily high bar for determining whether a record is a “public record” subject to the open records law to begin with. In addition to the existing requirement that the record “is prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public agency,” HB 509 would require the record to “document, record, memorialize, or give notice to a person outside the public agency of a transaction or final action.” 

Thus, unless a record is not only “prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public agency” but also documents “a transaction or final action,” it is not a “public record” subject to the open records law. It is, for all intents and purposes, inaccessible to the public.

Think police internal affairs investigations, consultants’ reports, petitions in support of executive pardons, public official itineraries.

Ironically, for those who might seek to hold our sitting Governor and executive branch accountable through their public records, the sponsors provide a statutorily approved cloaking device.

WHAT IS AND WHAT MAY BE A “PUBLIC RECORD”

Because the starting point for analysis under the open records law is determining whether the requested record is a “public record,” and because the definition of that term is radically circumscribed under HB 509, little will remain to secure meaningful public oversight.

By way of example, the sponsors identify as “public records” the following:

• Awarding, issuing, or amending a contract;
• Spending agency funds;
• Issuing a fine or penalty; or
• Issuing a public declaration or announcement of an event,
occurrence, determination, or decision of the public agency.

Records, in other words, that could typically be found on a public-facing agency website.

Importantly, Hodgson, Nemes, and Osborne take it one step further, expressly excluding from the already substantially narrowed definition of public record:

• Preliminary drafts;
• Notes;
• Correspondence with private individuals, other than correspondence
which is intended to give notice of a transaction or a final action;
• Preliminary recommendations or discussions;
• Scheduling matters;
• Communications of a purely personal nature unrelated to any governmental function;
• Memoranda, emails, or text messages in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended; and
• Information or documents stored or retained on a device or email account that is the personal property of a current or former employee, officer, board member, or commission member.

What are now exceptions to the open records law that a court can order the release of — if the agency fails to prove it properly denied a request — will be entirely excluded from the application of the open records law under HB 509.

The sponsors deliberately cut a wide swath through the open records law, leaving little more for public examination than lawmakers left for public examination when they excluded themselves from the open records law in 2021.

“THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”

“Proponents of such measures,” The Daily News noted in its 2022 editorial, “are always ready with talking points laying out their supposed good intentions. But we’re not fooled. Amid a national political climate in which anti-media rhetoric is a cornerstone of mainstream conservative campaigning, are we really expected to believe it’s just an innocent coincidence that state Republicans are flooding the zone with a series of anti-journalism, anti-free speech and anti-transparency proposals?

“[T]he GOP’s recent track record leaves little reason to give the party the benefit of the doubt. A preponderance of the evidence suggests many Republicans have become so intolerant of scrutiny and accountability that they are willing to legislate against transparency and the First Amendment.”

And so it is with HB 509. Its sponsors will no doubt profess good intentions aimed at addressing the pervasive use of private devices and accounts to conduct public business — a dubious argument in itself based on the language of the bill — but their aggressively anti-transparency agenda is the clear impetus for HB 509.

WHAT WOULD REMAIN?

In truth, nothing the Kentucky General Assembly has done in the past to chip away at foundational principles of the open records law compares with the devastation HB 509 will wreak if it is enacted into law.

Kentucky’s open records law, “once a standard bearer for accountability laws,” will be hobbled by a definition of “public record” that is confined to those least likely to “cause inconvenience or embarrassment,” thereby eradicating any right to meaningful public agency oversight and divesting the public of decades-old rights that ensure we remain our own governors.

(“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” James Madison to W. T. Barry, August 4, 1822)

Have we, at last, reached the point where “[p]oliticians who lack the maturity or the backbone to deal with criticism or opposing viewpoints” will succeed in “rig[ging] the game in order to make their jobs more comfortable.”

“This recurring theme in conservative politics is profoundly disappointing and frightening,” The Daily News concluded in its 2022 editorial. We, like the politically right leaning Daily News editorial board, “urge reasonable-minded elected officials on both sides of the aisle to firmly oppose all such misguided and dangerous efforts to undermine our freedoms.”

Editor’s note: The foregoing was originally published in the Kentucky Open Government Coalition blog on Feb. 13, 2024. 

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