Amye Bensenhaver: No celebrating Sunshine Week this year; there’s nothing to do but keep fighting
I will not celebrate Sunshine Week 2023. Since leaving the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office in 2016, I have pursued open…
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Amye Bensenhaver: Opposition to legislative secrecy is gaining steam, in Kentucky and across the nation
Across the nation — and particularly in Arizona and Mississippi — opposition is rising to state legislatures’ direct and indirect…
Amye Bensenhaver: A money-grab that will harm disadvantaged patients; medical records are yours
Move along, folks. Nothing to see here. Just another attempt by Kentucky lawmakers to take from the poor and give…
Kentucky Open Government Coalition’s final five of its Top Ten Open Government Stories for 2022
The Kentucky Open Government Coalition’s Top Ten Open Government Stories for 2022 begins with reports that underscore the fact, long…
Amye Bensenhaver: Open Government Coalition’s Top Five (of Ten) Government stories of 2022
In 2022, we were reminded of the critical role of the courts in securing the rights guaranteed under Kentucky’s open…
Amye Bensenhaver: When it comes to an open legislature, Kentucky leads in the race to the bottom
Mississippians last week continued to lament the Mississippi Ethics Commission’s recent opinion that the state legislature is not subject to…
Amye Bensenhaver: Lawmakers have sabotaged open records, open meetings; ’23 bears watching
Kentucky lawmakers faced a dilemma in 1975. One year earlier, they enthusiastically enacted an open meetings and an open records law…
Amye Bensenhaver: Shepherd’s victory in Franklin Circuit Court race a win for open government in KY
Judge Phillip Shepherd’s victory secures the future of open government in Franklin Circuit Court for the next eight years. The…
Amye Bensenhaver: UK, admonished by Supreme Court, at center of another open records controversy
Nineteen months after the University of Kentucky was admonished by the state Supreme Court for its “wholly inadequate” denial of…
Analysis: Public records and their destruction is yet another subterfuge to avoid accountability
By Amye Besenhaver Kentucky Open Government Coalition Mirroring controversies at the national level, illegal destruction of public records is now…
Amye Bensenhaver: Kentucky Public Pension Authority ignores ‘culture of secrecy,’ public’s rights
It didn’t take long for the Kentucky Public Pension Authority to respond to the followup open records request and open…
Amye Bensenhaver: What’s so hard to understand about public’s right to know the public’s business?
Who can forget this September 2019 exchange between former Governor Matt Bevin and reporters concerning Bevin’s reluctance to permit public…
Secretive KY Public Pension Authority and the public’s right to see a $1.2m report paid for by public
By Amye Bensenhaver Kentucky Open Government Coalition A Franklin Circuit Court’s ruling in Glenn Cohen v Kentucky Public Pension Authority…
Amye Bensenhaver: The Voice-Tribune’s key role in evolution of Ky. open records law often overlooked
Few may know or remember the importance of The Voice-Tribune — a local newspaper, established in 1949 — in the…
Amye Bensenhaver: A disconcerting look at open government on the 50th anniversary of Watergate
As the nation reflects on the fiftieth anniversary of Watergate, Kentuckians should pause to consider one of its least heralded…
Amye Bensenhaver: Legislative session a draw, open meetings law setback, open records law unscathed
Let’s call 2022’s legislative session a wash for open government. The open meetings law suffered a setback, but the open…
Amye Bensenhaver: The public is also at fault for allowing our lawmakers to evade accountability
Compounding the problems veteran political writer Al Cross identifies in his recent column in The NKyTribune — aptly titled, “Kentucky…
Amye Besenhaver: It’s Sunshine Week, met with mixed emotions; public’s business should be public
Once again, the Kentucky Open Government Coalition celebrates Sunshine Week this coming week with mixed emotions. It is, of course,…
Amye Bensenhaver: Senate Bill 63 substantially amends Kentucky’s Open Records Act; it is a bad bill
Editorial boards, First Amendment experts, open government advocates, and pundits across Kentucky are voicing opposition to Senator Danny Carroll’s SB…
Amye Bensenhaver: Expecting disaster, House greets public with unwelcome news — rules limiting debate
What to expect when you are expecting disaster? The House majority greeted Kentuckians with unwelcomed news even before the 2022…
Amye Bensenhaver: A disturbing report on status of ’21 Open Government; perhaps ’22 is less unkind
Second of two parts The Kentucky Open Government Coalition has once again compiled its list of the Top Ten Open…
Amye Bensenhaver: Top Ten ’21 Open Government Stories amid hollow ‘commitments’ to transparency
First of two parts The Kentucky Open Government Coalition has once again compiled its list of the Top Ten Open…