Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, and Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, are co-sponsors of HB 298, introduced on January 21 and assigned to the Judiciary Committee on January 23.

HB 298 requires law enforcement agencies to adopt policies governing vehicle pursuit, including criteria for "decision-making to initiate and terminate a pursuit."

It directs law enforcement agencies to transmit a copy of the adopted policy to the Justice Cabinet and establishes penalties for failure to do so. It also requires written certification that each member of the agency has received a copy of the policy and instruction on the policy.

The bill expressly prohibits disclosure of the adopted policies, providing:

"Any policy adopted pursuant to this section or any model developed by any public agency for use by law enforcement agencies to achieve compliance with this section shall remain confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under KRS 61.870 to 61.884 [the open records law]."

It may be evident to law enforcement officials why confidentiality of pursuit policies is necessary, but an explanation is appropriate anytime an otherwise public record is excluded from public inspection.

No policy supporting confidentiality suggests itself other than the concern that disclosure of the pursuit policy criteria might facilitate evasion or expose the law enforcement agency to liability.

Conversely, the policy supporting disclosure immediately suggests itself. The public's interest in verifying law enforcement agency discharge of a newly assigned duty, assessing the reasonableness of the criteria, and in confirming law enforcement compliance with the criteria in particular cases, is substantial.

We trust that the sponsors included the confidentiality provision for sound reasons, but we are anxious to hear what those reasons are.