The Commonwealth has partnered with third-party vendor Red Flag Reporting in bringing this valuable and independent reporting mechanism to state employees and Kentucky residents. The Personnel Cabinet has also been a collaborative partner in the project.
Through the online reporting system at Tipline.ky.gov, or by calling 1-800-590-3921, anyone can easily report concerns regarding improper, illegal or unsafe activity within the Executive Branch.
This could range from financial concerns such as theft or misstated financial statements to issues such as harassment, discrimination, safety, substance abuse, compliance and more.
“Employees and citizens may be reluctant to report illegal or unethical behavior of state officials because they fear retribution,” said Secretary Landrum. “This new system allows for people to provide their name or file an anonymous report. This is one more tool to help ensure Executive Branch employees are conducting the state’s business fairly, legally and ethically.”
Some key features of this reporting system allow people to remain anonymous if they so choose. Through the case management system, these users will be given a unique identifier, so that they may interact with investigators as the investigation proceeds. Users can share evidence, investigators can reach out to users with additional questions for clarification, or the user can check on the progress of the investigation.
Another feature is that users are given the names of who will be investigating the concern. Therefore, if an issue is related to one of the investigators, the user can prevent that investigator from receiving notification of the reported incident. The case will be re-routed to someone else for review.
Once a person clicks to file a report, a brief training video is available to provide additional information on how to file them.
The Finance Cabinet’s Office of Policy and Audit is the initial point of contact for filed reports. When applicable, reports will be referred to other investigative agencies using the case management system.
The contract with Red Flag Reporting became effective March 23, 2017. The contract will be reevaluated annually based on reporting volume.