15 law students notified they did not pass bar exam after previously being told they did
A scoring error was discovered after Bar passage results were released on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020
Fifteen law school students have been notified that they did not pass the Kentucky Remote Bar Examination, just days after being told that they had.
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According to an announcement from the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions, a scoring error was discovered after Bar passage results were released on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 for the test which took place on Oct. 5 and 6.
"The scoring error occurred when an applicant identifier was entered into a database spreadsheet twice, causing a limited number of other applicants’ scores to be misaligned and assigned to the wrong applicant," the office said.
The Office of Bar Admissions noted that it "immediately worked to investigate and correct the error," which resulted in 18 applications receiving incorrect information about their Bar Exam results. The remaining three applicants who were first informed that they did not pass the exam were told on Thursday that they had passed.
“I want to apologize to every applicant affected by the incorrect Kentucky Bar Exam results that were issued by my office earlier this week. I know that no apology can undo the anguish and disappointment that these bar examinees and their families have endured," KYOBA Executive Director Valetta Browne said in a statement. "The mistake was not discovered prior to results posting on Monday."
Kentucky Rep. Jason Nemes said that "heads have to roll for this," calling the mistake "incredible and unacceptable."
If something like this had happened in a private business, those who made this mistake would be dismissed," Nemes added. "So it should be in public service."
Nemes said in a separate tweet there will be a hearing to determine how the mistake happened and what is being done to ensure it never happens again. He also told those who failed the bar exam not to "sweat it."
"Put your head down and study for the next test," he said. "A lot of very good attorneys and judges failed the bar. Nobody knows or remembers. And thousands of them are making a difference across Kentucky."
The Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment on Nemes' announcement and whether any procedures have been put in place since the incident to prevent the error from happening again.
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As a result of the error, the Board of Bar Examiners and Supreme Court waived all application fees for the February Bar exam for the 15 applicants who were informed they did not pass. In addition, examinees who have been practicing law under the Supervised Practice Order initiated by the Kentucky Supreme Court may continue to do so.
The exam will be held remote-only due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on February 23 and 24, 2021.
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