Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who infamously refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, reportedly violated the Open Records Act. According to The Courier-Journal, Kentucky’s attorney general said that Davis and her lawyers refused to turn over public records that were requested by the nonprofit group Campaign for Accountability.
Davis’ attorneys, the right-wing anti-LGBT Christian law firm The Liberty Counsel, rejected the request for a variety of reasons, but it was their refusal to hand over the documents to the attorney general’s office which violated the statute.
“An agency cannot benefit from intentionally frustrating the attorney general’s review of an open records request,” said Assistant Attorney General Matt Jones. “[Such a result] would subvert the General Assembly’s intent behind providing review by the attorney general.”
The founder of the Liberty Counsel, Mat Staver, said he didn’t have a problem providing the contents of the documents, but wanted to make sure no information was revealed that was protected by attorney-client privilege.
Nice try, Kim. https://t.co/clkeywsalz
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 3, 2016
LGBT groups praised Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear‘s opinion and executive director of the Campaign for Accountability Anne Weismann said her group had requested the records to learn more about the elected clerk’s relationship with religious anti-LGBT groups
“I think the Attorney General was right to call them on completely flouting the law,” Weisman said.
Raw Story reports that Davis and The Liberty Counsel could be required under the Open Records Act to pay attorney fees for the Campaign for Accountability, as well as up to $25 a day for each day they denied access to the documents.
Featured image: Kentucky.com
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