The following Kentucky Attorney General Opinions and Open Records/Open Meetings Decisions were issued last week. The summaries are provided here. To read the full text in each case, go to: https://ag.ky.gov/orom/Pages/2019-OROM.aspx:

1. 19-ORD-226 (Lyon County)

Western Kentucky Correctional Complex properly denied inmate request for a copy of specified policies on the basis of KRS 197.025(2), incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l), as the records being sought do not contain a "specific reference" to him. WKCC did not violate the Open Records Act in denying his request for a specified form because it was never created and the agency cannot provide a nonexistent record for inspection or copying, nor is the agency required to "prove a negative" in order to refute his unsubstantiated claim that such a form exists.

2. 19-ORD-227 (Christian County)

Christian County Board of Education violated the Open Records Act by withholding two e-mail exchanges not subject to any exception, but did not violate the Act by withholding purely personal communications under KRS 61.878(1)(p) or records directly related to individual students under FERPA.

3. 19-ORD-228 (Christian County)

Christian County Public Schools ("CCPS") initially violated KRS 61.880(1), but corrected the error on appeal. CCPS violated the Open Records Act by withholding three emails regarding a "Nickel Tax," but properly withheld five of the emails. CCPS properly withheld groups of emails as "preliminary" under KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j), as records "of a purely personal nature unrelated to any governmental function" under KRS 61.878(1)(p), and as protected education records under FERPA and KFERPA, incorporated into the Act by KRS 61.878(1)(k) and (l).

4. OAG 19-023 (Fayette County)

Because, pursuant to KRS 70.320(2), constables in consolidated local governments may not appoint deputy constables without the "consent" of the mayor, mayors indirectly have authority to determine the number of deputy constables appointed, as well as who may and who may not serve in the position.