Lexington Herald Leader: "AOC's Apology Not Answers" -- And We Need Answers And A Promise.

AOC's apology not answers

Apologies are a great first step but they're not the end of the game, certainly not in public life.

So, congratulations to the Administrative Office of the Courts for admitting it made a mistake by hiring a persistent felon still on parole as a pre-trial officer at the Lexington-Fayette Detention Center, a job that involved monitoring criminal defendants.

The AOC also gets credit for changing its rules so this won't happen again.

But there are still some uneasy issues in this story that the AOC and the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government need to address.

Francis Baker, whose 13-page record outlines a series of offenses stretching back to 1981, was hired in 2007 by the AOC, which oversees the mechanics of the state court system.

As a felon, he was not supposed to have access to the National Crime Information Center database, although using it is essential to the work of a pre-trial officer.

Despite his long record, a supervisor mistakenly signed a document saying Baker had never been convicted of a felony and Baker was trained in how to use the NCIC.

Doris Zirbes, who worked with Baker at the detention center, or jail, contends in a lawsuit that jail officials allowed Baker to use the database, despite an order saying he shouldn't. She says she was disciplined when she told Lexington police and Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson about Baker's history.

In its response to the lawsuit, the city said there was not any retaliation against Zirbes but acknowledges that she was warned not to talk to outside agencies about issues at the jail "without proper authorization."

Here are questions that still demand an answer:

How did anyone, particularly an employee of the office that operates our courts, mistakenly overlook Baker's long record? Could that happen again?

Why did the jail seem more concerned about who Zirbes was talking to than the fact that a felon had improper access to criminal records? And, could that happen again?

Why was there no investigation when Zirbes filed her lawsuit in January containing the allegations against Baker (which also included long interludes with female prisoners in isolated parts of the jail)?

That didn't happen until May when the AOC learned from jail officials about allegations made about Baker by an offender.

The AOC has taken an important first step. To restore confidence in our criminal-justice system, the AOC and our local government, must keep going to clean up this troubling mess.

Editor's comment: Yep, apology is fine, but we need answers to make sure this NONSENSE is NEVER repeated.