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FRANKFORT, Ky. (February 13, 2025) – In a monumental Open Records Act ruling yesterday, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman agreed with Auditor Ball and Ombudsman Grate that Kentuckians who bravely come forward to the Auditor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office with information of government wrongdoing should be protected.
On October 31, 2024, the Auditor’s Office and Ombudsman’s Office received nearly identical Open Records demands from Governor Beshear’s Finance and Administration Cabinet. These demands, in part, sought access to constituent complaints from across Kentucky about foster children sleeping in government office buildings and the Beshear administration’s failure to carry out a law designed to help kinship caregivers. These investigations were announced by the Auditor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office merely days before the Beshear administration’s demands. In response to the Beshear administration’s blatant attempt to disrupt those investigations by chilling Kentuckians from coming forward with information, both offices turned to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers.
“My office is committed to maintaining the highest level of confidentiality for constituent complaints received, recognizing that safeguarding this information is crucial to upholding the integrity of the process itself,” Auditor Ball said. “I will continue to fight for the people of Kentucky and root out waste, fraud, and abuse across the Commonwealth.” |
