On Oct. 16, Daniel Cameron, the Republican candidate for Kentucky attorney general, sent an email to the Kentucky Open Government Coalition's gmail account with his responses to the coalition's questions regarding the duties of the attorney general related to the state's open meetings and open records laws.
As the coalition board member who monitors the email account, I, Jennifer P. Brown, failed to see Mr. Cameron's response when it came to the email inbox. I sincerely apologize for this oversight, which resulted in the coalition incorrectly reporting recently that Mr. Cameron did not respond to the survey.
We appreciate Mr. Cameron's response, which is published below.
The coalition sent the survey questions to the candidates on Aug. 5 and asked the candidates to respond by Aug. 23. The coalition subsequently followed up with a certified letter to Mr. Cameron requesting his participation in the survey.
The Democratic candidate, Greg Stmbo, previously responded to the survey, and his answers were published.
QUESTIONS TO THE CANDIDATES FOR KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL
1. How will you commit office resources to ensure that the Office of the Attorney General fulfills its statutory duties and meets statutory deadlines for issuing open meetings and open records decisions?
Cameron: I believe in open meetings and records and recognize the important role that the Office of the Attorney General plays in ensuring transparency among public officials. I would place a priority on meeting the statutory deadlines for these decisions and allocate the resources as necessary and as they are available to ensure compliance.
2. Do you believe that the Attorney General should follow precedent established by the office and the courts in interpreting and applying the open meetings and open records laws?
Cameron: I believe that the role of the Attorney General is to enforce the laws that are passed by the General Assembly, signed into law by the Governor, and interpreted by the courts. I will of course review those precedents after being elected Attorney General, but that review would be colored by my belief that public records and open meetings laws are important to holding public officials accountable.
3. The Attorney General intervened in three cases in 2016 to defend the authority of the Attorney General's office under KRS 61.880(2)(c) to request copes of disputed records for in camera inspection in open records appeals. Two of those cases, Kentucky Kernel v. University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University v. Kentucky Kernel, are unlikely to be resolved by the end of 2019. Will you pursue both of these cases to defend the authority of the Attorney General's Office under KRS 61.880(2)(c). Please explain your reasons for pursing, or not pursing, these cases.
Cameron: I take seriously the responsibility of the office to enforce and defend the laws passed by the General Assembly and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As with any pending litigation, I will reserve final judgement until I have had the opportunity to diligently review it, along with all supporting information once I am elected Attorney General. However, I generally support open records and meetings laws and will advocate to protect the authority of the Attorney General's Office.
4. What resources, if any, will you commit to improving open meetings and records compliance by public officials and increasing public awareness of Kentucky's open government laws?
Cameron: I believe that compliance with open meetings and records laws are critical to holding ourpublic officials accountable and maintaining a functioning democracy. If elected, our office will engage and act as a resource for public officials to ensure they understand the standards that the law requires them to meet. We will also ensure that the public has access to these standards, so they have the information needed to hold their elected officials accountable. Under my leadership, we will enforce the law, and any those who flaunt open meeting and records requirements to betray the public trust will be held accountable.
5. If legislation is proposed that reduces the public's existing rights under the open meetings and records law, should the Attorney General advocate to preserve the laws?
Cameron: I will be an advocate for transparency and integrity among public offices and would express my support for open meetings and records to the legislature and the governor.
