Shocking abuse of the trade secrets exception in the Kansas public records law to obstruct access to innocuous state employee prescription pharmacy plans. A problem in Kentucky under the open records exceptions for records confidentially disclosed to a public agency and "generally recognized as confidential or proprietary." KRS 61.878(1)(c)1. & 2.

For more astonishing details, check out @ksnewsservice health reporter Celia Llopis-Jepsen's accompanying Twitter thread.

https://twitter.com/celia_lj/status/1443953161291587591?s=21

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"A state agency said its redactions shield trade secrets. But the text below the black remained readable. So we took it to experts in antitrust and public records law."

"TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas blacked out large swaths of an audit on prescription drug spending in response to a public records request.

"But because the state botched its redactions, leaving much of the concealed text accessible, the Kansas News Service was able to show several lawyers what the state intended to obscure.

"Those experts consider it highly likely that many of the redactions weren't allowed under state law. That's particularly the case because so many of the details appear in other public documents, including on the state's own website.

"That undermines the Kansas Department of Administration's argument that it needed to redact the $100,000 watchdog report on how one of the wealthiest companies in the nation — CVS — handles prescription drug coverage for Kansas employees, their families and retirees.

"The agency said it needed to protect trade secrets.

"Bur the redacted details go to the heart of the state health plan, such as how many prescriptions it covered in 2018 and 2019.

"'There is no strong argument in my mind for why those specific pieces of data are trade secrets,' said Amy Kristin Sanders, a University of Texas-Austin professor of journalism and law.

"She studies government transparency in situations where private corporations are involved in public work.

"Sanders and other lawyers reviewed the document and the legal justification for redaction provided by the Department of Administration. They found the state's logic weak.

"'Across almost all 50 states,'she said, "'Let's just cite something and hope it scares the requester of'f"… is a universal approach to dealing with public records requests.'

"The Kansas Department of Administration declined the Kansas News Service's request to interview the agency's attorney about the redactions."