The KY General Assembly passed a bill last week dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in the state and giving the governor and other parts of state government more flexibility in dealing with the crisis.
One part of the bill deals with the laws and regulations regarding open records and open meetings – laws that guarantee a certain level of transparency into the workings of government and of our elected officials.
Here are the changes implemented in Senate Bill 150. Note that these changes are only in effect during the state of emergency declared by the governor; once it ends, the regular rules take effect.
- Public agencies have 10 days to respond to an open records request, rather than 3 days.
- The agency may delay on-site inspection of the records.
- Public agencies may conduct any meeting by live audio or live video teleconference.
- They still must provide public notice.
- They must provide specific information on how the public or the media can access the meeting.
Note that the bill calls for the public or the media to be able to “access” the meeting. It is not clear from the bill what exactly that means.
As noted by open records advocate Amye Bensenhaver, these changes will make it harder for government to be transparent to the public and the media. But, given our circumstances at this time, we do at least have these guidelines.
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