Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has upheld the Taylor County Sheriff's Office's decision to deny an open records request for documents related to a 2021 vehicle traffic stop, according to an open records decision issued February 12, 2026.

Damon Cruse requested the Sheriff's Office produce a report on an April 13, 2021 traffic stop involving his vehicle, along with body camera footage and all audio-video communications between the Sheriff's Office and the Kentucky State Police related to the incident. The Sheriff's Office responded that it had no responsive records because it did not conduct the traffic stop. The office provided documentation showing the stop was conducted by the Campbellsville Police Department and that Taylor County 911 Dispatch found no information connecting the Sheriff's Office to the incident or any related communications.

Under Kentucky's Open Records Act, once a public agency states no responsive records exist, the burden shifts to the requester to demonstrate that the records do or should exist. In this case, the decision stated that Cruse "presents no evidence that the Sheriff's Office possesses, or should possess, records related to the traffic stop." The office also provided a Computer Aided Dispatch report showing only the Campbellsville Police Department and Kentucky State Police were involved in the incident.

The Attorney General concluded the appellant "has not made a prima facie case that any responsive records do or should exist in the possession, custody, or control of the Sheriff's Office," therefore the Sheriff's Office did not violate the Open Records Act. The Kentucky General Assembly recognized that free and open examination of public records is in the public interest, though agencies are not required to produce documents that do not exist.

Cruse has 30 days from the decision date to appeal the determination in circuit court.