"Imagine being one of the thousands of unsung heroes working in state government in Kentucky. Imagine if you were to see or experience something illegal within the Kentucky legislature and believe it needs to be addressed. When you bring the issue to legislators or their executive staff, they ignore or dismiss the concerns.

Under a new law (HB 312), if your request for openness and transparency is denied by the director of Legislative Research Commission, who is employed by legislative leaders controlled by a supermajority of one party, you'll end up having to appeal to a panel of 16 legislative leaders. And if that panel denies the request to release the information, the new law says that decision is final and unappealable. Period, end of story.

The new law removed the ability to appeal that decision to the Franklin Circuit Court. One of the most dangerous changes to the LRC open records application is the removal of three words "or other documents" on page 17, making only certain items available that are mostly things already found on the LRC Web site.

What could they be hiding or protecting—and why?"