{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-43.035","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 43.035","heading":"Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman -- Duties -- Expenses charged to","body":"entity under review.\n(1) The Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman is hereby created as an office within\nthe Auditor of Public Accounts. The Auditor shall appoint an ex ecutive director of\nthe Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman, who shall serve as the ombudsman\nand be responsible for overseeing the operations of the office.\n(2) The Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman shall:\n(a) Investigate, upon complaint or on its own  initiative, any administrative act or\ninaction of an organizational unit, employee, or contractor of the Cabinet for\nHealth and Family Services without regard to the finality of the administrative\nact or inaction. Organizational units, employees, or contr actors of the Cabinet\nfor Health and Family Services shall not willfully obstruct an investigation,\nrestrict access to records or personnel, or retaliate against a complainant or\ncabinet employee;\n(b) Make recommendations that resolve citizen complaints ab out the Cabinet for\nHealth and Family Services and improve the cabinet's performance and may\nrequire corrective action when policy violations are identified;\n(c) Provide evaluation and information analysis of the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Service's performance and compliance with state and federal law;\n(d) Place an emphasis on research and best practices, program accountability,\nquality service delivery, and improved performance of the Cabinet for Health\nand Family Services;\n(e) Provide information on h ow to contact the office in poster, brochure,\npamphlet, or other format to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,\nwhich shall print and publicly post or otherwise make the information\navailable at all offices where Department for Community Based Servi ces of\nthe Cabinet for Health and Family Services employees or contractors work, at\nany facility where a child in the custody of the cabinet resides, and to all\ncabinet or contracted foster parents in a manner approved by the ombudsman;\n(f) Report to the C abinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Inspector\nGeneral for review and investigation:\n1. Any charge or case against an employee of the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services where it has cause to believe the employee has engaged\nin dishonest, un ethical, or illegal conduct or practices related to his or\nher job duties; or\n2. A violation of state law or administrative regulation by any organization\nor individual regulated by or contracted with the cabinet;\n(g) Compile a report of all citizen complaints about programs or services of the\nCabinet for Health and Family Services and  a summary of resolution of the\ncomplaints and submit the report upon request to the Interim Joint Committee\non Health Services and the Interim Joint Committee on Families and\nChildren;\n(h) Provide information to the Office of the Attorney General, when re quested,\nrelated to substantiated violations of state law against an employee or\ncontractor of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a foster or\nadoptive parent;\n(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, maintain confidentiality except\nwhen disclosures may be advisable in the ombudsman's judgment to enable\nthe office to carry out its duties and to support recommendations; and\n(j) Promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A\nnecessary to perform its duties as specified in this chapter.\n(3) Any expense incurred by the Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman for\ndiscretionary investigations, reviews, evaluations, information analysis, or other\nwork performed under this section at the direction of the ombudsman shall be\ncharged to the entity that is the subject of that work at the same rate as established\nby the Auditor for audit work done pursuant to KRS 43.050. The Commonwealth\nOffice of the Ombudsman shall maintain records of all time and expenses for such\nwork.","path":["KRS Chapter 43"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55996","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:03Z","sha256":"93e7a23b28dac8d987a8c7bf83bdbd52525898767033abc92e83fd4b4a5577c2","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-43.032","next":"us-ky/krs-43.040"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}