KDP's Open Records Request and the AG's Ruling

Kentucky Democratic Party’s Open Record Request to the City of Somerset

Many have been curious about the open records request (ORR) the Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) sent to the City of Somerset during November 2022. The public first learned about the ORR on January 5^th, 2023, when the Attorney General issued a ruling that the city violated the Open Records Act. 

The KDP shared the AG’s ruling on their Facebook page the same day the AG provided them with his ruling, which also happened to be the same day mayor Keck formally announced he would be running for governor. The city claimed in a recent Commonwealth Journal article that the AG’s ruling and timing was political. Perhaps it was, but the timeline for the appeals process and the ruling seems to be standard; we know this because we have submitted several appeals to the AG for violations of the open records act. If the city had responded appropriately, it is likely we would never know that this ORR had been submitted and curiosities would not have been raised. The city should probably use this experience as a lesson learned opportunity and comply appropriately in the future to avoid such embarrassments.

As mentioned, we have had several ask what was in the open records request, and as a result we filed our own ORR to the AG and asked for the KDP’s original ORR. The open records request may not apply to the KDP, so we only received the appeal sent to the AG. Some of the email addresses were redacted by the AG’s office because they were determined to be personal identifiable information.

If you are one of the many who have asked about the ORRs, you can find the KDP’s appeal to the Attorney General with the original ORRs here.