EXTRA CONTENT: Attorney General says Whitley 911 Center violated state’s open records laws again

Read the complete text of the Attorney General’s ruling by clicking here.

For the fourth time in less than a year, the Kentucky Attorney General ruled last week that the Whitley County 911 has violated or flaunted the state’s open records laws.

The latest ruling came after News Journal reporter Dean Manning filed a request with the 911 Communications Center in July for the Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) report and all recorded radio and telephone traffic regarding a July 3 incident in which an 11-year-old boy was severely injured by an exploding firework.

Whitley County 911 Center Director Chuck Davis initially denied the request, citing an exemption to the Open Records Act regarding juvenile court records. The News Journal appealed that decision days later. In supplemental communication with the Attorney General’s Office, Davis cited health privacy concerns as an additional reason for the denial. Assistant Attorney General Amye L. Bensenhaver, ruling in favor of the News Journal, rebuffed both of those claims.

"Neither 911 Communications’ initial response nor its supplemental response state a legally sufficient basis for denying Mr. Manning access," Bensenhaver wrote.

Bensenhaver noted that no actual juvenile court records were at issue in the appeal. The incident was not the subject of a law enforcement investigation. Also, she noted that previous local and federal rulings regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which governs health privacy concerns, already addressed the issue of privacy as it relates to the state’s open records laws. No exemption applied.

Davis also said the mother of the injured child did not want records released in the case.

"The record on appeal contains no evidence of a strongly substantiated privacy interest other than a statement attributed to the juvenile’s mother. We are reluctant to defer to her wishes in light of the absence of any facts supporting her claim."

On Monday, Davis said he planned to appeal the decision to circuit court, but then relented and decided to release the records. The News Journal received them Tuesday.

"I’ve been in law enforcement 30 years and I’ve never, ever given information out about a juvenile. Never," Davis said. "I understand what the Attorney General is saying, but I don’t see how state KRS (Kentucky Revised Statutes) override federal statute, but I’m not a lawyer."

Davis said the mother of the boy, who is an employee at the 911 Dispatcher Center, asked that no information be released. He denied any insinuation of favoritism on his part because the incident involved a fellow employee.

"I don’t care who it is … I’m not going to release records on a juvenile if the parents want to keep it quiet."

Three times since last October, the 911 Center has violated the state’s Open Records Act. The Attorney General ruled in favor of a local man, Clarence T. Hurst, who wanted copies of 911 recordings stemming from a domestic dispute on KY 92E on Mossy Gap, but was denied because former 911 Director Angie Matney erroneously claimed disclosure of the information required a court subpoena. Earlier this year, the Attorney General ruled in favor of the Corbin Times Tribune which sought, but was denied, recordings of a 911 call made regarding a deadly shooting at the Root Beer Stand in Corbin. Another, separate appeal found the 911 Center was only technically in compliance with state law when it refused to provide recordings to a Corbin woman seeking information about the 2005 death of her son. County 911 officials claim to have lost the recordings. The Attorney General referred the case to the state’s Department of Libraries and Archives and expressed concern over lax recordkeeping practices at the Center. Whitley County officials say the problems have since been corrected.

Davis only took over as 911 Director in recent months and was not in charge when the first three rulings were released.