Names of Louisville police chief finalists have not always been kept private

After campaigning and being elected last fall on the promise of transparency, Mayor Craig Greenberg has chosen to keep the identities of the finalists for police chief private – even though citizens of Louisville have known the names and qualifications of police chief candidates in the past.

The Courier Journal filed a request under the Kentucky Open Records Act to obtain any information related to the names of applicants, finalists and application materials. In the denial, the Louisville Metro Government said the request was denied "pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(a) because (the records) contain information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

The rejection also cited a 2010 Kentucky attorney general opinion involving the Whitley County School District as the reasoning for keeping the police chief candidates' identities secret.

"The Office of the Attorney General has consistently recognized the privacy interests of applicants for public employment outweigh the public's interest in disclosure of application materials,” it said.

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But Amye Bensenhaver, a former assistant attorney general who co-wrote the Whitley County School District opinion, said that decision was only legally binding on the parties involved. It had the "force of law" to the agency and open records requester, but not the state as a whole.

"The (Open Records Decision) does not bind the Commonwealth," she said. "Each case is decided on its unique facts."

This means that there was no legal requirement for records in other cases to remain private.

Finalists' names have been released since the 2010 opinion. In fact, Louisville announced the top five police chief candidates − and released their resumes − when the job was open two years later.

Weighing private and public interest?

The Mayor's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. However, the office previously provided its reasoning for not disclosing information about the police chief candidates.

“A long line of Attorney General opinions requires Metro Government respect the privacy interests of candidates for positions who are not chosen,” said David Kaplan, Greenberg’s chief of staff and general counsel, in a statement to The Courier Journal.

The key word in this statement is "requires," said Bensenhaver, who leads the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. While it is within the government's right to keep applicants' names private, it is not mandatory, she said.

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Instead, the government must weigh the public’s interest and the private interest to determine the best course, she said.

The same applies to KRS 61.878(1)(a), the other statute the government referenced in the rejection, said Bensenhaver.

The government is not legally required to withhold the records –"they make the choice," she said.

Finalists for other job openings named

There have been other instances when the finalists for high-profile jobs throughout the state were named, including several times in Louisville.

In 2002, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson released the names of three finalists: Robert C. White, who got the job; Jimmie Dotson, then-chief in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Richard Gardell, an assistant chief from St. Paul, Minnesota.

This was prior to the 2010 opinion the Louisville Metro Government references. But in 2012, then-Mayor Greg Fischer named Yvette Gentry, Vincent Robison, Rick Sanders, Glenn Skeens and Steve Conrad as the five top candidates to become the next LMPD chief. Fischer also provided their resumes to local media outlets in that search.

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When he announced Erika Shields would be police chief in January 2021 after months of racial justice protests, it was after a more private process that elicited criticism from the community.

There's also a non-police hiring example from Louisville. Jefferson County Public Schools released the names of its final two superintendent candidates in 2018. Marty Pollio, who wound up with the job, and Michael Raisor were both internal candidates.

Elsewhere in Kentucky, the Lexington city government announced the names of the top four police chief candidates in 2015, according to the Herald-Leader.

“If they want to come down on the side of nondisclosure — fine, but take the hit for that, don’t blame the open records law,” Bensenhaver previously told The Courier Journal. “You as a public official have to accept responsibility for the choices that you make and be prepared to defend them if someone were to challenge them.”

Interim LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel has been the only candidate named by Greenberg during the 2023 hiring process.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @ellie_mccrary.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville police chief finalists had names released in past searches