In the midst of a national and international health crisis, it seems tone deaf — and a little trifling — to resurrect a story that dominated headlines in the waning months of former Governor Matt Bevin's administration.
That story related to Bevin's use of state planes for public and private purposes. It exposed Bevin's fundamental disregard for transparency and accountability.
But Wednesday's release of an examination of Bevin's use of state planes by Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Harmon, and Harmon's call for legislative action to address deficiencies in record keeping, compel a final word.
Based on his findings, Harmon called "for changes in law by the General Assembly that will create a consistent way to disclose the purpose of flights by the governor and lieutenant governor."
In a series of posts last fall, the Kentucky Open Government Coalition examined this issue. We provided the backstory on the legal precedent — Courier Journal v Jones — that was cited as the basis for denying the public access to detailed records documenting Bevin's purpose and destination in relation to each flight.
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/512452592634801/?d=n
Cited, that is, if Bevin and his staff felt obliged to formally respond to requests or were, instead, inclined to informally dismiss requests as none of the public's business.
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/514339455779448/?d=n
Courier Journal v Jones, issued in 1995, affirmed former Governor Brereton Jones's denial of open records requests for his appointment calendar on the basis that the calendar was a preliminary record.
https://casetext.com/case/courier-journal-v-jones
Respectfully, it was a poorly reasoned Kentucky Court of Appeals opinion issued near the end of Jones's term. It might well have been reversed by the Kentucky Supreme Court had the Courier appealed it to the state's highest court.
But it was not appealed. The explanation?
Incoming Governor Paul Patton indicated that he would voluntarily make his calendar available to the public. The immediate need for reversal of the Court of Appeals' opinion was eliminated.
This temporary resolution came back to haunt Kentuckians. Courier Journal v Jones remained on the books. It stands today as legal, albeit poorly reasoned, precedent.
Kentucky's new Governor, Andy Beshear, has indicated that he will release records documenting his use of the state plane. His commitment to transparency, like former Gov. Paul Patton's as he entered office, is commendable.
But there is no law currently in existence that binds Beshear's successors to this course of conduct or obligates them to this degree of accountability. In a sense, history is repeating itself.
Harmon's call for legislative action to fill the gap is therefore appropriate.
Harmon examined the use of state aircraft by Bevin and former Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton between January 2016 and September 2019. The purpose for only 16 of 309 flights was properly documented. In 289 cases, these officials used airplanes operated by the Kentucky State Police.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:
"The 16 trips with documentation were among the 20 flights taken using the state Transportation Cabinet's Capital City aircraft.
"None of the 289 flights on state police aircraft, costing more than $800,000, had a documented purpose."
In a press conference announcing his findings Harmon observed, "Unlike flights for law enforcement purposes, protection from disclosure requirements shouldn't extend to the use of taxpayer owned and funded aircraft by their elected leaders for both official and non-official business."
For these reason, the Auditor "advocat[ed] for changes in law by the General Assembly" aimed at consistency in record keeping and accountability in disclosing the purpose of flights by the governor and lieutenant governor.
An unambiguous statutory duty of affirmative disclosure would override the Court of Appeals' flawed analysis in Courier Journal v Jones, at least as to these particular records.
https://www.facebook.com/419650175248377/posts/517621065451287/?d=n
While we often question the value of legislative solutions looking for problems, we agree that in this case there is simply no doubt that legally enforceable statutory requirements will hold elected officials to account and discourage, if not eliminate, abuse.
