An important editorial on threats to open government in other states during the COVID-19 crisis.
Kentucky experienced its first *reported* challenge not long after the necessity of modification to existing open records practices became apparent.
On March 30, Governor Beshear signed SB 150, a coronavirus relief bill that included reasonable modifications to the open records and meetings laws that will end when the state of emergency is lifted.
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/662842280929164/?d=n
Shortly thereafter, Louisville officials flatly denied KYCIR reporter Jacob Ryan's March 31 request for COVID-19 spending records.
https://kycir.org/2020/04/07/louisville-officials-wont-release-spending…
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/656799184866807/?d=n
Officials advised, "The staff necessary to respond to this request are also devoted to assisting in the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, it would be a burden not only to them, but also to the residents of Louisville Metro relying on Metro's work if they were to respond to this request at this time."
On April 13, Ryan tweeted an update to his April 7 story about the denial of his records request, "Louisville Metro officials say they will now be releasing spending data. The data will be updated every Friday and released with an Open Records Request."
Officials yielded to media criticism and agreed to release spending records but insisted on submission of weekly open records requests rather than affording broad public access on an open data portal.
It's unclear whether Louisville has fulfilled this commitment, but this is certainly not the only example of public agency exploitation of the current crisis to impede access to public records.
https://www.wkms.org/post/marshall-county-911-director-responds-allegat…
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/655491704997555/?d=n
And for every media representative denied access to public records, there are Kentuckians who may not be aware that public agency open records duties are not suspended in the crisis and who therefore raise no protest.
Once again, requesters should temper their expectations with reasonable leniency during this state of emergency, but reasonable leniency ends where legally indefensible obstruction and secrecy begins.
