The Courier-Journal sought records of donations made to the Foundation under the Open Records Act. The Foundation claimed that the privacy exception should allow it to withhold donor information. The trial court and the Court of Appeals agreed. In August 2008, the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeals ruling and held that donor information must be made public.

In August 2009, the Jefferson Circuit Court (Judge Gibson) excluded the press and public from the jury selection in this highly publicized murder case against a high school football coach involving the death of a student athlete during practice. We intervened on behalf of the Courier-Journal and convinced the trial court to allow media representatives to be present during jury selection.

When a newspaper was denied access to records from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services relating to a case involving the death of a toddler, they turned to Dinsmore. The paper requested records from the Cabinet following the death of a 20-month old toddler, whose mother had been under investigation by the Cabinet. The Cabinet denied the requests, citing confidentiality provisions of HIPAA and personal privacy exemptions in the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) Open Records Act. The Attorney General had previously upheld the Cabinet’s decision to withhold the records from another newspaper, and that case was headed to the Franklin Circuit Court on appeal. We moved to intervene in the circuit court action, and the motion was granted. The circuit court found that the Cabinet was obligated to provide the records, and had violated the Open Records Act because the state laws cited by the Cabinet did not forbid disclosure of the records. The Court also ruled that attorney’s fees and costs were to be awarded to the newspaper, citing another part of Kentucky’s open records law that says, “Any person who prevails against any agency in any action in the courts regarding a willful violation of [the Kentucky Open Records Law]…may be awarded costs, including reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in connection with the legal action.” The circuit court’s ruling was affirmed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. This ruling results in not only financial savings for the client, but also establishes clear precedent for asserting that governmental agencies may be responsible for a private litigant’s attorney’s fees when successful in seeking to open government records for public review.

The Messenger-Inquirer sought records from the KCTCS concerning former Owensboro Community College President Paula Gastenveld, whom KCTCS had terminated from that position without stating any reason. The Attorney General, in two separate opinions, ruled that KCTCS violated the Open Records Act by withholding the requested records. KCTCS sued the Messenger-Inquirer in Woodford Circuit Court in two separate actions. We represented the newspaper on both actions, and the court affirmed the Attorney General decision and held that KCTCS willfully violated the Open Records Act and must pay attorneys’ fees and costs.