No bills directly relating to Kentucky's open records or open meetings laws have been filed as December 10 — the last day for lawmakers to pre-file bills — draws to a close.

On December 9, Rep. Regina Huff (R-Williamsburg) filed Bill Request 947, amending KRS 160.270 to require a public comment period at local board of education meetings of at least 15 minutes.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/prefiled/BR947.html

Kentucky's open meetings law is silent on public comment at public meetings. An attendee therefore has no enforceable right to participate by comment at a meeting. Nevertheless, most public agencies permit comment in recognition of the importance of public input.

As meetings have become more rancorous, some agencies — notably public schools — have placed conditions on public comment. These conditions have — in some cases— included submission of written public comments rather than live public comment.

Huff's bill request narrowly targets, and is limited to, public schools. As requested, it will not extend to any other public agency.

Aside from Huff's bill, we have located no other pre-filed bills touching on open records or open meetings.

This is a departure from recent years in which one or more pre-filed bill was identified before the regular session commenced.

• In 2020, Rep. Chris Freeland (R-Benton) pre-filed HB 141. The bill created a new exception to the open records law for "photographs or videos that depict a person's death, killing, rape, or physical or sexual assault or abuse, as well as any other gruesome photograph or video of a person."

Opponents quickly pointed out the subjectivity of the term "gruesome" as well as other problematic features of the bill. A revised version of Freeland's bill was enacted in 2021.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20rs/HB174.html#HFA1

• In 2021, two bills relating to extraordinary protection of already protected personal information of certain public employees and officials — later piggybacked into one — were pre-filed. Sen. Danny Carroll (R-Paducah) sponsored the first, SB 48. Rep. John Blanton (R-Salyersville) sponsored the second after quickly withdrawing a pre-filed version of the bill that triggered strong opposition.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/21rs/SB48.html

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/21rs/prefiled/BR985.html

https://www.facebook.com/kyopengovernment/posts/832589683954422

The latter piggybacked bill failed in the final hours of the 2021 Regular Session, but seem likely to return — in some form or fashion — in 2022.

The Kentucky Open Government Coalition takes little comfort in lawmakers' inactivity in advance of the coming legislative session. Lawmakers' decision not to pre-file is likely another attempt to fly under the radar — as in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 — and thus avoid early organized opposition to bills aimed at undermining existing rights under Kentucky's open records and open meetings laws.