By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Kentucky Supreme Court determined that emails and text messages created by a public official on a private device are not subject to open record rules.
The ruling, which was handed down this past Thursday, sides with the commonwealth’s fish and wildlife department that in 2021 denied a request to make public text and email communications on the private phones of members of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission, according to the Kentucky Lantern.
Justice Kelly Thompson wrote in the majority opinion that individual members of the board did not constitute a “public agency” and were therefore not subject to Kentucky’s Open Records law, adding that if someone believes a government agency is subverting the open records law then they could file a civil lawsuit, according to the Kentucky Lantern.
Amye Bensenhaver, a Barren County native and a co-director of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition, which challenged the 2021 denial, said the ruling will have a “broad ripple effect” that will be “devastating to the public’s right to know,” according to the Lantern interview.
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