Lexington Herald-Leader
Thu, Feb. 05, 2009
KY Bill Advances To Keep 911 Calls off Airwaves
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
A measure that would prevent 911 calls from being broadcast on TV and
radio cleared its first legislative hurdle on Thursday and now heads
to the Senate floor for a vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure that is garnering
strong support among GOP lawmakers, despite the pleas of broadcasters
who say the proposal smacks of censorship.
"It certainly starts us down a very slippery slope," said Nancy Cox,
a news anchor with WLEX-TV in Lexington.
Leading Republicans, including Senate Floor Leader Dan Kelly and
Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Stivers II, are backing the bill
sponsored by GOP freshman Sen. John Schickel of Union in northern
Kentucky. The big-name support all but ensures the measure will be
approved in a floor vote and be sent to the House for consideration.
The Kentucky Open Records Act now requires emergency dispatching
centers to make 911 calls available to the public when requested.
That law has provided Kentuckians with sometimes highly emotional
accounts of any number of heart-rending tragedies, including the
first reports of a teen having her feet severed on a Louisville
thrill ride in 2007 and the deadly crash of Comair flight 5191 at
Blue Grass Airport in 2006.