DRUG TASK FORCE SETTLEMENT NOT PUBLIC, ATTORNEY SAYS

HOPKINSVILLE -- An attorney for the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force contends
that a confidential settlement agreement the public agency reached a few
months ago with an ex-female employee in a sexual harassment case should be
kept secret because the agreement "is not, and never has been, a part of
the public court record."

"The settlement agreement is not a pleading or other document required to
be filed with the circuit court clerk's office," according to the agency's
reply on file at the Christian County Justice Center.

John Soyars, assistant county attorney whose office represents the Task
Force, submitted a response Friday in Christian Circuit Court to a motion
filed by the Kentucky New Era to intervene and unseal the court file.

The newspaper filed court papers in July to open the settlement agreement
reached between the Task Force, director Cheyenne Albro and plaintiff
Teresa Cannon. The action came after Judge John Potter, a special judge
from Louisville, granted an order of dismissal July 9. This order
prohibited attorneys from disclosing the terms of the settlement.

Soyars told the newspaper in June that a settlement had been reached with
Cannon and the defendants but declined to release the terms. Before the New
Era intervened, Soyars and Cannon's attorney, Andrew Self, were asked to
release the settlement. Both denied the newspaper's request.

In his reply, Soyars said the newspaper's action should be considered as an
open records request under the Kentucky Open Records Act. But because a
judge's ruling was involved, an open records request most likely would have
proven unsuccessful.

According to Soyars' response, "When a public agency is a party to
litigation and records that would otherwise be public are ordered to remain
confidential by a circuit court, the agency is not required to release
those records."

"If the Task Force releases the agreement, it would violate this court's
order," Soyars stated.

In Kentucky, settlement agreements involving a public agency historically
have been open to inspection by the public.

"The settlement agreement between a public employee and a public agency
must be open to public scrutiny," local attorneys Jason Holland and Dan
Kemp stated in their motions for the New Era.

The Task Force is a public agency because its budget is funded mostly
through federal and state dollars.

The New Era has reported on the litigation since early 2003 when Cannon
filed the suit. She was seeking compensation from the defendants for
punitive and actual damages.

The former employee claimed in the civil suit that Albro sexually harassed
her until Jan. 27, 2003, and fired her from work at that time through a
written letter of termination. She alleged that he "engaged in numerous and
repeated acts of sexual harassment" directed at her while employed with the
law enforcement organization.

A hearing before Potter has not been scheduled in the case, according to
court records.