Ky. Sup. Ct. Order 2021-11

Supreme Court of Kentucky

2021-11

IN RE: Authorization for Release of Information Pursuant to RCR 4.08(f)

ORDER

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has requested that the Kentucky

Supreme Court authorize the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to release data

regarding information supplied to representatives of Kentucky Pretrial Services during

defendants’ initial interviews or subsequent contacts. NCSC’s data request is for the

sole purpose of evaluating the impact of various types of court date notifications on

rates of failure-to-appear.

RCr 4.08 provides that information supplied by a defendant to a representative

of Kentucky Pretrial Services during the defendant’s initial interview or subsequent

contacts, or information obtained by Kentucky Pretrial Services as a result of the

interview or subsequent contacts, shall be deemed confidential and shall not be

subject to disclosure. Subsection (f) of the rule provides that “any person conducting

an evaluation of the pre-trial release program may have access to all completed

interview forms upon order of the Supreme Court.”

Upon consideration of NCSC’s request to review and evaluate Kentucky’s

pretrial data, and based on the authority under RCr 4.08(f), the Supreme Court hereby

authorizes the AOC, subject to an executed Memorandum of Understanding setting

forth requirements concerning confidentiality and redisclosure, to release the following

data regarding information supplied to representatives of Kentucky Pretrial Services by

defendants:

• Needs assessment questions;

• Individual identifiers (Original Person ID, Interview Person ID, name, social

security number, CourtNet Criminal History Key, driver’s license number);

• Date of birth;

• Marital status;

• Education level;

• Interpreter language;

• Veteran and combat veteran status;

• Probation or parole supervision status;

• Number of dependents;

• Indicator of whether defendant provided an e-mail address during the interview;

• Address;

• Homelessness status;

• Time at current address;

• Type of other person, if any, with whom the defendant lives; and

• Income.

Entered this 20th day of April 2021.

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CHIEF JUSTICE

All sitting; all concur.