In 1991, I was the Director of the Civil and Environmental Law Division in the Office of the Attorney General.  (Fred Cowan was the Attorney General.).  At that time, the Office was responsible for issuing opinions on Open Records and Open Meetings appeals that were submitted to it for review.  These opinions were, for the most part, written by attorneys in the Opinions Branch, which was one of the branches in the Civil and Environmental Law Division.  

As the number of requests for Open Records and Open Meetings opinions increased, the Office made the decision to hire an attorney to focus on this area of the law.  In March 1991, we hired Amye Bensenhaver to fill this role.  It soon became apparent that handling Open Records and Open Meetings appeals would be a full-time effort for Ms. Bensenhaver.  She quickly developed an expertise in this area of the law, and that expertise increased an deepened during the many years that she devoted to reviewing Open Records and Open Meetings appeals.

After the law was amended to give the Attorney General's Open Records and Open Meetings opinions the force of law, the Office began to handle its review of these matters in a manner that differed from its handling of advisory opinions.  Ross Carter, the Branch Manager of the Opinions Branch, developed a system for numbering the decisions -- ORD (Open Records Decision) and OMD (Open Meetings Decision) -- and for obtaining any documentation to be considered in making the decisions.  Regulations were written and implemented.

The goal of the Office of the Attorney General was to develop a system that provided a full, fair, and impartial review and decision for each Open Records and Open Meetings appeal.  In my opinion, under the leadership of Ross Carter and Amye Bensenhaver, the Office of the Attorney General created such a vital decision system.  I am grateful for being given the opportunity to play a small role in the development of that system.

Bio

Ann Sheadel graduated from Wayne State University Law School in 1978.  Before moving to Kentucky in 1985, she practiced law with the Upper Peninsula Legal Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.  Most of her legal career in Kentucky was spent in the Office of the Attorney General, where she served as Director of the Civil and Environmental Law Division, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Director of the Consumer Protection Division, and Director of the Division of Administrative Hearings.  After leaving the Office of the Attorney General, she served as a contract Hearing Officer for several state agencies. She is now retired.