The OAG's 2015 open records decision that Fayette Circuit Judge Kimberly Bunnell affirmed in late April 2019. A quick read suggests the extent to which KMSF challenged the attorney general's authority and impeded the office's ability to discharge its statutorily assigned duties.

This problem would recur one year later when the university refused to cooperate with the attorney general, openly questioning the office's legal authority to review its denial of the Kernel's request for records relating to sexual harassment complaints leveled against Dr. James Harwood by some of his students.

In the KMSF appeal, Dr. Hatemi gathered sufficient documentation to establish its status as a public agency.