FRANKFORT, Ky. – Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd on Monday ruled the Bevin administration intentionally violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in refusing to release a copy of an economic analysis of the administration's 2017 pension reform plan.

In a 19-page final order in the case, Shepherd ordered the economic analysis be released and – because the violation of the open records law was willful – directed the state to pay $72,833 in attorneys' fees and costs to the person who requested the record.

The controversial economic analysis will not be released immediately, however, because Shepherd said the Bevin administration will have time to appeal Monday's ruling to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Scott Jennings:Kentucky's Jenean Hampton has got to go, but so does Alison Grimes

Shepherd's Monday order uses even stronger language than an order he issued last month finding that the economic analysis by the actuary for Kentucky Retirement Systems is an open public record.

"The Court finds that the denial of this Open Records request was a conscious, deliberate strategy to suppress public debate on an important issue of public policy, and to avoid 'embarrassment to public officials' in direct violation" of the Open Records Act.

The document at issue is the analysis by KRS actuary Gabriel Roeder Smith & Co. of the sweeping pension reform proposal called "Keeping the Promise" that Bevin announced in October 2017.

The analysis was requested by Ellen Suetholz, a former attorney for state government and a member of the Kentucky Public Pension Coalition.

"Ms. Suetholz is pleased that the judge clearly understood that the administration's litigation tactics were nothing more than an effort to keep this important document from the public," said Tricia Herzfeld, a Nashville attorney who represents Suetholz.

Woody Maglinger, a spokesman for Bevin's office, said in a statement that the administration disputes the conclusion of a willful violation of the Open Records Act sufficient to justify an award of attorneys’ fees. "The legal issue in this case is far from clear-cut, as evidenced by the fact that it took Judge Shepherd 32 pages of opinions to resolve this case. We intend to appeal," Maglinger said.

Rain, rain, rain:Louisville is Kentucky's 'snakiest city' and this weather has them slithering

Suetholz requested a copy of the economic analysis soon after it was delivered to the Kentucky Retirement Systems in late 2017.

Bevin administration Budget Director John Chilton refused to release it, saying it was a draft, preliminary document that is exempt from release under the Open Records law. Suetholz appealed the denial to Attorney General Andy Beshear's office, which ruled she was entitled to the record.

But the Bevin administration filed suit in Franklin Circuit Court seeking an order that the record was preliminary and could be withheld.

Last month Shepherd – in a ruling that was not final – said the record was not a preliminary one and must be disclosed.

Moreover, the judge – who privately reviewed the disputed record in his chambers – said in last month's order that the analysis concluded the Bevin plan would make the bleak financial outlook for the state's beleaguered pension plan even worse, delaying by four years the time it will take KRS to reach full funding.

The Bevin administration responded to the order with a flurry of motions with the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court to halt release of the document, but those courts rejected the requests for emergency relief as not following proper procedure.

Shepherd on Monday admonished Bevin administration attorneys for what he said was a needless "avalanche" of litigation instead of asking Shepherd for an order staying the release of the record.

"The deliberate tactical decision to bypass this Court and seek emergency relief in the appellate courts resulted in enormous expense, inconvenience, and unnecessary litigation for all involved," Shepherd's order says.

Joe Gerth:Andy Beshear won’t have to prosecute Jerry Lundergan – and he has Trump to thank

He ruled that Suetholz's attorneys are entitled to $71,237 in attorneys' fees and expenses totaling $1,596. This was less than Suetholz's lawyers had requested, and the judge rejected a request that penalties be added to the fees.

"The Court recognizes that its award of attorneys' fees and costs in this matter far exceed the routine fee awards that this Court has made in other Open Records Act cases, but finds that it was necessary for Ms. Suetholz to incur those fees and costs because of the litigation tactics" of the budget director's office. "In light of the magnitude of the fee award, this Court will decline to award penalties or grant the request for sanctions."

Much of Shepherd's ruling Monday repeated the findings in his order of last month when he wrote that the exemption under the law that allows the withholding of certain preliminary records does not apply in this case.

Shepherd wrote that the exemption is intended to assure that state officials can candidly explore a diverse range of ideas in developing a policy before a final policy decision is made.

"Here, the record is clear that the actuarial report was performed after the public release of the Governors 'Keeping the Promise' proposal," Shepherd wrote.

"There is no meaningful chance that the disclosure of the actuarial study would inhibit the candor or content of internal executive branch debates over these policies," Shepherd wrote. "In fact, disclosure of the actuarial study would serve the salutary purpose of keeping those internal debates honest, by ensuring that the policies will be tested by the economic realities set forth in the actuarial studies that the Budget Director seeks to hide from public view, under lock and key."

Bevin had planned to call a special legislative session in late 2017 to have lawmakers pass "Keeping the Promise" into law. But concerns over the plan's cuts to current employees' benefits caused lawmakers to retreat from that plan.

No special session was called. In 2018 lawmakers did pass a greatly scaled back pension reform plan, but it was struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court, which ruled the rapid, one-day process used by lawmakers to pass it violated a constitutional provision intended to assure lawmakers and the public had time to read a bill before it becomes law.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at 502-875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com. Twitter: @TomLoftus_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/toml.