The Attorney General has correctly ruled that the Kentucky State University Foundation's efforts to avoid public scrutiny by "disaffiliating" from Kentucky State University were fruitless. Ultimately, it's purpose is to advance the university's educational purposes and act as an agency of the university in soliciting, receiving, and spending money on the university'a behalf.
The open records decision concludes The State Journal's dispute with the Foundation which, the Attorney General confirms, acts as one with the university.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky directly rejected the KSU Foundation's position in a 1992 opinion—also involving The State Journal.
It indirectly rejected the same position in 2003 when the University of Louisville Foundation advanced it.
Frankfort Publishing Co., Inc. v. Kentucky State University Foundation, Inc., 834 S.W.2d 681, 682 (Ky. 1992); University of Louisville Foundation, Inc., v. Cape Publications, Inc, d/b/a/The Courier Journal, 2003 WL 22748265 (unpublished)
The KSU Foundation can make no tenable claim that the Supreme Court's 1992 opinion declaring it a public agency for open records purposes is no longer legally binding on it.
State Journal reporter/editor Austin Horn writes:
"The Office of the Attorney General issued an opinion last week which found that the Kentucky State University Foundation, the school's primary private fundraising arm, is a public agency.
"Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ray opined in favor of The State Journal, which appealed the KSU Foundation's denial of a request for several records.
"The State Journal had requested several records from the KSU Foundation, which it denied by arguing that it was not a public agency and therefore not subject to state open records law.
"Requested records include any payments made to former president M. Christopher Brown II in the last two years, payments made to fund Brown's travel, payments made to fund his birthday parties and payments of more than $1,500 to any entity or individual.
"The State Journal recently offered to limit the last request from 2017 to present.
Both the attorney for the KSU Foundation — Ed Logan of Logan, Burch and Fox and the foundation's executive director Donald Lyons — have yet to respond to requests for comment about the ruling.
"The Attorney General frequently referenced a 1992 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling which stated that the foundation was a public agency. He wrote that there was insufficient evidence that the organization had changed enough since then to no longer be considered a public agency."
