A remarkably timely Twitter thread from the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government as Kentucky counts down to midnight when a new open records residency requirement takes effect. The tortured implementation of Tennessee's statute is proof of the pitfalls of residency requirements in public records laws.

Although Kentucky's new open records residency requirement differs in detail from the corresponding Tennessee's statute, the common notion that public agencies — Tennessee's or Kentucky's — are tired of producing public records for nonresidents/nontaxpayers is deeply offensive.

The importance and value of Kentucky's public records does NOT end at the Commonwealth's borders.