Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: Can Governor, Auditor come to agreement for public good?
Gov. Andy Beshear and Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball squared off earlier this month in a legal dispute over the auditor’s…
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Kentucky Supreme Court to hear open records case involving KY Department of Fish and Wildlife
By McKenna Horsley Kentucky Lantern The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in a case that could…
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: After legislature, a reminder of importance of state’s open records laws
As the ink dries on the last bills from the 2024 legislative session to be signed into law or vetoed,…
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: Savor the moment but stay alert — as HB 509 died quiet death in legislature
In responses ranging from disinterested to comatose, Republican leadership registered little concern about the demise of HB 509 Monday night….
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: House Bill 509 did not emerge from the legislative session; will it be back?
Reporters frantically recapped the last day of the 2024 Regular Session — before the ten day veto period and final…
Walton Mayor Gabriel Brown tendered verbal resignation after allegations; special meeting tonight
By Patricia Scheyer NKyTribune reporter Walton’s colorful mayor Gabriel Brown, tendered a verbal resignation last week at an executive session…
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: Discussing House Bill 509 relating to access to public records and meetings
With only a few days remaining in the 2024 Regular Session, the fate of House Bill 509, “An Act relating to…
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: As we celebrate Sunshine week 2024, all is not bright in Kentucky
Appropriately, the sun is shining brightly in Kentucky on the first day of Sunshine Week 2024, the nation’s annual celebration…
Op-Ed – Amye Bensenhaver: Hoping for best on FOI and open records under new AG Russell Coleman
Speculating on the future of Kentucky’s open government laws under Attorney General-elect Russell Coleman may be premature, even unfair, but…
Op-Ed – Amye Bensenhaver: Court of Appeals got it right on public business and personal emails
Open government advocates are inclined to rhapsodize about every judicial victory that advances the cause of public agency accountability and…
Court of Appeals rules texts on personal phones about public business can be public record
By McKenna Horsely Kentucky Lantern The Kentucky Court of Appeals issued an opinion Friday that says messages on personal cell…
Amye Bensenhaver: Only grade for legislature, its supermajority, Daniel Cameron is ‘F’ on open records
Which of the following is true of the General Assembly and its supermajority? A. it excluded itself and it’s administrative…
Amye Bensenhaver: Attorney General’s disdain for transparency a preview of possible governorship
In a week that witnessed the state’s print media question the importance of a HuffPost article focusing on the Kentucky…
Amye Bensenhaver: Independence Day behind us, let us renew efforts to demand Freedom of Information
“I signed this measure with a deep sense of pride that the United States is an open society in which…
Judy Clabes: A clarification — and an explanation — related to a troublesome headline
Headline writing is an art as well as a skill, and as an experienced headline-writer myself I know the challenges…
Amye Bensenhaver: Covington officials ignore real law to keep records from family in Daulton jail killing
For law enforcement agencies accustomed to issuing blanket denials of open records requests for records compiled in an “open” investigation,…
His daughter wants to know why Johnny Daulton had to die a violent death in a Kenton County Jail cell
By Judy Clabes NKyTribune editor Tonya Jones will be the first to say she never really had a father, but…
Amye Bensenhaver: What would ‘open government’ look like if Daniel Cameron is elected governor?
What would a Daniel Cameron gubernatorial administration look like through the lens of Kentucky’s open government laws? In a word:…
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…
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…
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: 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…