Government watchdogs are celebrating this month the 40th anniversary of the Kentucky Open Records Act. It has withstood the test of time as an indispensable tool for a variety of individuals and interest groups seeking to hold public officials accountable.
The open records law changed everything when it went into effect in June 1976 in the midst of the general environment of distrust in government that began a decade earlier. Before it was signed into law by Gov. Julian Carroll, local governments could easily hide their spending, state agencies could bury their mistakes, elected and appointed officials could more easily abuse their powers. Continue…
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