Louisville mayor announces reforms, improvements to open records process

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Major reforms and investments are being made to the city’s open records process in an effort to increase government transparency.

Louisville mayor Craig Greenberg appeared at the University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law on Thursday to discuss the reason for open records backlogs and new efforts to increase fulfillment of requests.

Greenberg said following an investigation into Metro Government’s open records response process, reasons for backlogs include a rapid increase in requests, inadequate checks and balances, inadequate staffing levels and a need for clearer standards across multiple departments.

As part of a newly announced reorganization of the Metro Government Department of Records Compliance, several key reforms were revealed to help speed up open records:

Open records functions within Louisville Metro Government will be independent from the Office of Management and Budget and placed under a new director.
The new department will serve as a single point of contact for all open records requests made for all agencies in the Metro.
Six full-time staffers will be hired to coordinate and support open records response process.
Up-to-date training will also be provided to all government employees to ensure compliance to Kentucky’s open records laws.

“Transparency and accountability equal trust,” Greenberg said. “One of the most fundamental ways we establish trust is to share information both proactively and in response to open records requests.”

Kentucky’s Open Records Act was established in 1976 by the Kentucky General Assembly to allow any public records to be made available to the general public for examination.