The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has filed an appeal in a long-running dispute with the state's two largest newspapers.
The agency is appealing a judge's order that it release case files on children who were being monitored by the state when they died or nearly died from abuse or neglect.
The Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald-Leader sued for access to the documents after they were denied as part of an Open Records Act request.
Last year, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd found that the cabinet willfully circumvented the act by failing to fully release files on child abuse fatalities and near deaths. He fined the cabinet $756,000 and ordered payment more than $300,000 in attorney fees to the two newspapers.
The Courier-Journal reports (http://cjky.it/QFnTgr) Monday's appeal asks that the case be transferred directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court.