Skip to content

SB63

STATEMENT: (copy & paste if emailing your Senator)

The Kentucky Broadcasters Association still has serious concerns with SB 63. We appreciate the sponsor’s efforts to limit the definition of immediate family, and to prohibit convicted public officers from utilizing the provisions of SB 63. But the chilling effect this legislation will have on investigative journalism is real, and will be the unintended consequence of this legislation becoming law.

  • We see serious detrimental effects on Kentucky’s Open Records Act from SB 63 – taking information that has long been available and taking it away from the public’s eye. This will impact transparency of state and local governments, and will undermine the public’s faith that their government is operating in their best interest.
  • The KBA is opposed to the inclusion of the civil liability provision in SB 63.
  • SB 63 will create the same problems that its model, New Jersey’s Daniel’s Law, and other similar legislation has created in other states. Some public agencies will cease responding to Open Records requests, and the General Assembly will have to come back and add limits and changes and clarification to this bill.
  • Other states have come back and created an office to provide some oversight to this type of program. SB 63 has no central office processing the use of SB 63, and therefore has no real oversight. While most law enforcement may appropriately use this program, there is nothing to prevent the hiding of information that would reveal criminal activity that has not yet led to a conviction in court.

The Kentucky Broadcasters Association encourages the state Senate to carefully examine this proposal, to remove the civil liability, and to add some level of oversight to this program to protect it from future abuse.

ACTION: Locate your Senator below and click on their name to see phone numbers and email contact information.  Feel free to copy and paste  the message above along with your personal greeting.

 

SENATOR DISTRICT PARTY COUNTIES
Adams, Julie Raque 36 Republican Jefferson (Part)
Alvarado, Ralph 28 Republican Clark, Fayette (Part), Menifee, Montgomery
Berg, Karen 26 Democrat Jefferson (Part)
Carpenter, Jared 34 Republican Fayette (Part), Madison
Carroll, Danny 2 Republican Ballard, Carlisle, Livingston, Marshall, McCracken
Castlen, Matt 8 Republican Daviess, Hancock, McLean
Douglas, Donald 22 Republican Fayette (Part), Garrard, Jessamine
Embry Jr., C.B. 6 Republican Jefferson (Part), Oldham, Trimble
Girdler, Rick 15 Republican Clinton, Cumberland, Pulaski, Russell, Wayne
Givens, David P. 9 Republican Barren, Edmonson, Green, Hart, Warren (Part)
Harper Angel, Denise 35 Democrat Jefferson (Part)
Higdon, Jimmy 14 Republican LaRue, Marion, Nelson, Spencer, Washington
Hornback, Paul 20 Republican Boone (Part), Carroll, Franklin, Gallatin, Kenton (Part), Owen
Howell, Jason 1 Republican Calloway, Crittenden, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Lyon, Trigg
Kerr, Alice Forgy 12 Republican Boyle, Fayette (Part), Mercer, Woodford
McDaniel, Christian 23 Republican Kenton (Part)
McGarvey, Morgan 19 Democrat Jefferson (Part)
Meredith, Stephen 5 Republican Breckinridge, Butler, Grayson, Meade, Ohio
Mills, Robby 4 Republican Henderson, Hopkins, Union, Webster
Neal, Gerald A. 33 Democrat Jefferson (Part)
Nemes, Michael J. 38 Republican Bullitt, Jefferson (Part)
Parrett, Dennis 10 Democrat Hardin, Jefferson (Part)
Schickel, John 11 Republican Boone (Part)
Schroder, Wil 24 Republican Bracken, Campbell, Kenton (Part), Pendleton
Smith, Brandon 30 Republican Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Leslie, Magoffin, Morgan, Perry, Powell, Wolfe
Southworth, Adrienne 7 Republican Anderson, Henry, Jefferson (Part), Shelby
Stivers, Robert 25 Republican Clay, Jackson, Knox, McCreary, Owsley, Whitley
Storm, Brandon J. 21 Republican Casey, Laurel, Lincoln, Rockcastle
Thayer, Damon 17 Republican Fayette (Part), Grant, Kenton (Part), Scott
Thomas, Reginald 13 Democrat Fayette (Part)
Turner, Johnnie 29 Republican Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Knott, Letcher
Webb, Robin L. 18 Democrat Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lewis
West, Stephen 27 Republican Bourbon, Fayette (Part), Fleming, Harrison, Mason, Nicholas, Robertson, Rowan
Westerfield, Whitney 3 Republican Caldwell, Christian, Muhlenberg
Wheeler, Phillip 31 Republican Elliott, Johnson, Lawrence, Martin, Pike
Wilson, Mike 32 Republican Logan, Simpson, Todd, Warren (Part)
Wise, Max 16 Republican Adair, Allen, Metcalfe, Monroe, Taylor, Warren (Part)
Yates, David 37 Democrat Jefferson (Part)
Scroll To Top