Kentucky Cabinet Ordered To Release Records

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Thursday, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ordered the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to release records of child abuse deaths, saying the Cabinet had no legal basis for withholding the information. Shepherd ruled that such information must be disclosed despite the cabinet's citation of confidentiality. The order comes after a court battle by The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader to obtain records of children who die or are seriously injured from abuse. Shepherd ordered the cabinet and the newspapers to meet within 10 days to negotiate on the release of the voluminous records.