KRS § 61.168 — KY Code / Title VIII / Chapter 61 / Section 61.168
61.168 Body-worn cameras and video and audio recordings -- Disclosure, retention, and availability for viewing governed by KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and 171.410 to 171.740 -- Exceptions
Status: in_force

61.168 Body-worn cameras and video and audio recordings -- Disclosure,

retention, and availability for viewing governed by KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and

171.410 to 171.740 -- Exceptions.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Body-worn camera" means a video or audio electronic recording device that

is carried by or worn on the body of a public safety officer. This definition

does not include a dashboard mounted camera or recording device used in the

course of clandestine investigations;

(b) "Body-worn camera recording" or "recording" means a video or audio

recording, or both, that is made by a body-worn camera during the course of a

public safety officer's official duties;

(c) "Personal representative" means a court-appointed guardian, attorney, or agent

possessing written authorization to act on behalf of a person that is involved in

an incident contained in a body-worn camera recording, a person holding a

power of attorney for a person that is involved in an incident contained in a

body-worn camera recording, or the parent or guardian of a minor child

depicted in a body-worn camera recording. If a person depicted in the

recording is deceased, the term also means the personal representative of the

estate of the deceased person, the deceased person's surviving spouse, parent,

or adult child, the deceased person's attorney, or the parent or guardian of a

surviving minor child of the deceased;

(d) "Public agency" has the same meaning as in KRS 61.870(1);

(e) "Public safety officer" means any individual that is an employee of a public

agency who is certified as a first responder under KRS Chapter 311A or

whose employment duties include law enforcement or firefighting activities;

and

(f) "Use of force" means any action by a public safety officer that results in death,

physical injury as defined in KRS 500.080, discharge of a personal body

weapon, chemical agent, impact weapon, extended range impact weapon,

sonic weapon, sensory weapon, conducted energy weapon, or a firearm, or

involves the intentional pointing of a public safety officer's firearm at a

member of the public.

(2) Except as provided in this section, the disclosure of body-worn camera recordings

shall be governed by the Kentucky Open Records Act, as set forth in KRS 61.870 to

61.884.

(3) The retention of body-worn camera video recordings shall be governed by KRS

171.410 to 171.740, and the administrative regulations promulgated by the

Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.

(4) Notwithstanding KRS 61.878(4), unless the request meets the criteria provided

under subsection (5) of this section, a public agency may elect not to disclose body-

worn camera recordings containing video or audio footage that:

(a) Includes the interior of a place of a private residence where there is a

reasonable expectation of privacy, unless the legal owner or lessee with legal

possession of the residence requests in writing that the release be governed

solely under the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884;

(b) Includes the areas inside of a medical facility, counseling, or therapeutic

program office where a patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving

treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported in the course of

treatment;

(c) Would disclose health care information shared with patients, their families, or

with a patient's care team or that is considered protected health information

under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996;

(d) Includes the areas inside of a correctional facility when disclosure would

reveal details of the facility that would jeopardize the safety, security, or well-

being of those in custody, the staff of the correctional facility, or law

enforcement officers;

(e) Is of a sexual nature or video footage that contains nude images of an

individual's genitals, pubic area, anus, or the female nipple;

(f) Is of a minor child, including but not limited to footage involving juvenile

custody matters;

(g) Includes the body of a deceased individual;

(h) Would reveal the identity of witnesses, confidential law enforcement

informants, or undercover law enforcement officers, or if the release could

jeopardize the safety, security, or well-being of a witness or confidential

informant;

(i) Would reveal the location information of a domestic violence program or

emergency shelter;

(j) Would reveal information related to schools, colleges, and universities that is

protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act;

(k) Would result in the disclosure of nonpublic or confidential data classified as

Criminal Justice Information Services data by the Federal Bureau of

Investigation;

(l) Includes a public safety officer carrying out duties directly related to the

hospitalization of persons considered mentally ill;

(m) Includes the depiction of the serious injury or death of a public safety officer;

or

(n) Includes footage made in conjunction with a law enforcement exercise that

includes special response team actions, hostage negotiations, or training

events, but only where the public release of tactics, operational protocol, or

methodology would disadvantage the capability of public safety officers to

successfully respond in emergency or other dangerous situations.

(5) If the recording contains video or audio footage that:

(a) Depicts an encounter between a public safety officer where there is a use of

force, the disclosure of the record shall be governed solely by the provisions

of KRS 61.870 to 61.884, including all of the exceptions contained therein;

(b) Depicts an incident which leads to the detention or arrest of an individual or

individuals, the disclosure of the record shall be governed solely by the

provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884, including all of the exceptions contained

therein;

(c) Depicts an incident which is the subject of a formal complaint submitted

against a public safety officer under KRS 15.520, 67C.326, or 95.450, or

depicts an incident which is the subject of a formal legal or administrative

complaint against the agency employing the public safety officer, the release

of the record shall be governed by the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884,

including all of the exceptions contained therein; or

(d) Is requested by a person or other entity or the personal representative of a

person or entity that is directly involved in the incident contained in the body-

worn camera recording, it shall be made available by the public agency to the

requesting party for viewing on the premises of the public agency, but the

public agency shall not be required to make a copy of the recording except as

provided in KRS 61.169. The requesting parties shall not be limited in the

number of times they may view the recording under this paragraph.

(6) Nothing in this section or KRS 61.169 shall be interpreted to override any provision

related to:

(a) Reports by law enforcement officers and criminal justice agencies under KRS

17.150;

(b) The law and rules governing discovery or the submission and display of

evidence in any court proceeding, whether criminal or civil, or any

administrative proceeding; or

(c) The provisions of KRS 189A.100.