The Whitley County Detention Center was found to be in violation of the Kentucky Open Records Act when it failed to respond in writing to a request for records, denied portions of the request without explanation, and delayed providing records beyond the statutory response period without explaining the reason for delay, according to a Kentucky Attorney General Open Records Decision on May 17.
The original request was made by Aaron Kidd on Feb. 22. Kidd requested records relating to, “the arrest and detention of a certain individual, including video of a purported altercation between that individual and Center employees, incident reports related to the altercation, and ‘use of force’ records,” stated the opinion.
The Office of Attorney General (AG) Daniel Cameron has recently issued a decision in which it says the Whitley County Detention Center violated the Open Records Act.
By Jarrod Mills
Staff Writer May 25, 2021
Ronnie Helton
LONDON - A Corbin man who has been accused of attempting to kidnap and then offering $1,000 for a toddler was formally arraigned in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on Monday.
A court-appointed lawyer representing Ronnie Lou Helton, 74, entered a plea of not guilty for her client who was physically present during the arraignment.
Helton was indicted by a federal grand jury back in April. The indictment says Helton attempted to kidnap, abduct, seize, confine, and carry away another person for the purpose of assault using a means of interstate commerce, a red Pontiac sedan.
A routine traffic stop Tuesday evening resulted in the discovery of a bag with suspected heroin inside it, but neither the driver nor the passenger claimed to know anything about it.
Whitley District Judge Fred White entered not guilty pleas during Thursday afternoon’s arraignments for the driver Ewell Lawson, 44, and passenger Stanley Dean Lay, 48, both of Williamsburg, who are charged were importing heroin, first-degree possession of a controlled substance (heroin) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In addition, White entered a not guilty plea for Lawson on the additional charges of second-offense operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of a substance, driving on a DUI suspended license, failure to wear seatbelts, license not in possession, and no operator’s/moped license.