The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the sad end of a valiant effort to hold Lexington accountable for the surveillance technology it regularly uses.

In 2017, Mike Maharrey successfully challenged the city's partial denial of his request for records relating to cameras owned and operated by the city of Lexington — specifically, camera purchase orders, vendor contracts, training manuals, and use policies — in an open records appeal to the Attorney General.

https://ag.ky.gov/Priorities/Government-Transparency/orom/2017/17ORD179…

Maharrey is the director of "We See You Watching Lexington."

Following his 2017 victory at the Office of the Attorney General, Lexington hauled Maharrey into the Fayette Circuit Court to reverse the attorney general's open records decision and deny the public access to records that the city argued qualified for protection under the homeland security exception to the open records law.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=48230

Represented by the ACLU, Maharrey was again victorious and the city again appealed.

https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/459734391239955/?d=n

https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/472808353265892/?d=n

https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/658842187995840/?d=n

At the conclusion of a trip to the Court of Appeals, Maharrey's case was returned to the Fayette Circuit Court where a judge determined that disclosure of the disputed records would unreasonably burden the city.

Promising to continue to "watch the watchers," Maharrey issued a statement on July 21 in which he advised, "After over two-and-a-half years of legal wrangling, the lawsuit filed against me by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government is over" and indicated that he would "reveal what I know about the Lexington Police Department's super-secret cameras."

https://weseeyouwatchinglexington.com/2020/07/19/the-lawsuit-is-over-he…

In his statement, Maharrey reasserted that "Lexington desperately needs transparency and oversight for its surveillance programs," and made clear his intent to continue to press this issue.

Laudable, indeed, given the fact that the city's strained construction of the law, the multiple opportunities it was afforded to meet its burden of proof, and its deep pockets, forced an unfortunate conclusion that no doubt left Maharrey questioning the open records process.