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Attorney General: London City Council properly withheld some records from open records request

· Source: KY Attorney General Open Records

Kentucky Attorney General's Office found that the London City Council partially violated the state's Open Records Act when denying an appeal filed by Jamie Sloan, according to a decision issued May 26. The decision addresses requests made during an ongoing investigation into the London Police Department's use of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

Sloan submitted two requests to the council in February and March 2026 seeking communications and records related to the police department and investigations into Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) usage. The council withheld several categories of documents, citing attorney-client privilege and exemptions for correspondence with private individuals.

The attorney general's office ruled that the council initially failed to adequately explain how the attorney-client privilege applied to withheld records in response to the first request. However, the council's more detailed explanation in its response to the second request—stating that communications "contain legal advice in [its] entirety"—satisfied legal requirements for invoking the privilege.

The office upheld the council's decision to withhold correspondence from private community members who did not reference Sloan, finding those records exempt under state law. It also rejected Sloan's argument that the council should have provided redacted versions of withheld documents, noting that records protected by attorney-client privilege or exempt correspondence are exempt in their entirety.

Sloan's requests came in the midst of a broader federal investigation. The FBI began investigating London Police's NCIC usage in early February, leading the London City Council to adopt Resolution 2026-03 on February 11 authorizing its own investigation. The resolution directed city officials including Sloan to submit sworn statements and documents related to NCIC access and usage.

The FBI has placed the London Police Department under a Level A sanction, the highest sanction under CJIS policy, causing a total suspension from use of the CJIS network. Control of NCIC management was transferred from the London Police Department to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office in early February.

According to the attorney general's decision, Sloan also claimed the council should have produced additional investigative records, arguing that certain communications indicated more documents existed. The office rejected this argument, finding Sloan provided only speculation rather than evidence that additional records exist.

The decision is final but either party may appeal to circuit court within 30 days.

This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from KY Attorney General Open Records, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-237.pdf. How we make these.