"Is the Kentucky State University Foundation — the institution's primary private fundraising arm that accepts donations from a variety of sources for the purpose of benefiting the university — a public agency that is required to release expenses?

"That is the question, which will be posed in Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd's courtroom, after the foundation appealed an Attorney General's Office opinion that it is a public agency and must release expense-related records in a response to a State Journal inquiry earlier this year that resulted in the denial of requested documents.

"The records requested by the newspaper include payments made in the past two years to former KSU President M. Christopher Brown II for travel, his birthday parties and records of any expenditure that exceeded $1,500 to any organization or individual. The request was later limited to include records from 2017 to present.

"We believe the public has a right to know how the K-State Foundation is spending its funds — especially in light of recent financial issues at the university — and we intend to fight in order to find out."