Hardin County Sheriff Jon Ward's office "was trying to hide from the public that it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money to address officer wrongdoing," according to First Amendment Attorney Mike Abate. 

The high court ruled that Kentucky’s law enforcement agencies have been improperly relying on a state statute “as a justification to shield their public records from public scrutiny for nearly 50 years.”

David Gabbard has been paid $40,000 after he was allegedly harassed and assaulted by troopers following a Facebook post in which he shared his anger at what he felt was an illegal stop.

“The Court cannot fathom how the requested records could be considered preliminary and exempt” under state law, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate wrote.