Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration has agreed to settle public records lawsuits filed by two state cabinets against the Kentucky Center for…

Two state cabinets are appealing a judge’s order that they must reimburse the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting for legal costs after…

At Little Sandy Correctional Complex in northeastern Kentucky, prison leaders created a culture that “may have contributed to acts of sexual harassment and a reluctance to report allegations of sexual harassment," according to a state report.

The state finance cabinet was ordered to pay legal bills for refusing to give KyCIR access to records, and penalties for declining to turn records over to the Attorney General's office.

The judge ordered the Labor Cabinet to pay more than $16,000 in legal fees and an $800 penalty because it disregarded legal precedent when it redacted the name of an employee who was accused of sexual harassment.

Newly released documents shed light on the process by which the Labor Cabinet investigated, and then closed, the sexual harassment allegation.

Before Hector Fonseca was accused of sexual harassment at work — a claim that an internal investigation did not substantiate — judges had twice issued protective orders against him for domestic violence allegations.

Four women claimed they were sexually harassed while working as prison guards at Little Sandy Correctional Complex in Sandy Hook, Kentucky.

“[T]he public has a right to know if the internal investigation was thorough, unbiased, and competent, or whether it was a ‘cover up’ of misconduct based on personal or political favoritism,” Shepherd wrote in his ruling on the Labor Cabinet.

Judge Phillip J. Shepherd on Wednesday questioned whether protecting names has the effect of protecting public agencies — and making it easier to cover up wrongdoing.