"The Courier-Journal obtained nearly 200 pages of documents involving complaints against [Senator Rand] Paul through an open records request. They date to May 2020 and include complaints from a dozen people who identify themselves as health professionals including doctors and nurses."
A primary function of the open records law, and one recognized in an early court opinion interpreting the law, is ensuring that professional licensure boards properly discharge their duty to "police their profession."
https://casetext.com/case/kentucky-st-bd-of-med-v-courier-journal
In 2011, The Courier published a three part series suggesting that the "[s]tate medical board is soft on physicians, compared to other states and professions."
https://ci.uky.edu/kentuckyhealthnews/2011/12/19/kentucky-board-of-medi…
In a case involving a separate professional licensure board—Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychologists v Courier Journal—the Kentucky Supreme Court addressed the public's right of access to records relating to the licensure board that oversees psychologists.
The court observed:
"The public's 'right to know' under the Open Records Act is premised upon the public's right to expect its agencies properly to execute their statutory functions. In general, inspection of records may reveal whether the public servants are indeed serving the public, and the policy of disclosure provides impetus for an agency steadfastly to pursue the public good. The fundamental mission of the Board of Examiners of Psychologists is to ensure that citizens who consult a licensed psychologist will receive competent, ethical, professional services. Perhaps secondarily, the Board would likewise serve the public interest by preserving the credentials of a qualified practitioner wrongfully accused of unprofessional conduct."
https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/1992/90-sc-498-dg-1…
Based on the "already-disclosed records," the Supreme Court held that "the Board has faithfully performed its purpose," denying The Courier access to the client files of the psychologist against whom multiple complaints were filed.
From that defeat, the public won an important victory.
The Court established —among other things—that Kentucky's open records law "exhibits a general bias favoring disclosure."
In 2021, the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure—which in 1982 denied The Courier's request for complaints against physicians—released complaints against Sen. Paul, enabling the public to ponder whether the board is properly executing its statutory function.
Reasonable minds may differ.
