Request By:
Mr. Paul Sebastian, Secretary
Carroll County Board of Education
Carroll County Schools
Carrollton, Kentucky 41008
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in reply to your letter stating that the Carroll County Board of Education recently adopted a policy concerning operating procedures. Included in this policy is a provision that all board members be provided with a copy of the recommended agenda for an upcoming meeting at least seven days prior to the date of the meeting. The board of education has received requests from the news media for a copy of the tentative agenda and you ask:
"Is the Board of Education legally obligated to release a tentative agenda prior to the board meeting date?"
We first direct your attention to KRS 160.270 concerning regular and special meetings of a board of education. The statute provides that the regular meeting is to be held "at a time and place fixed by the board." In regard to a special meeting the statute requires that each member of the board "shall have timely notice of each meeting and the nature, object and purpose for which it is called." Thus, if you are referring to a regular meeting of the board of education, it is our opinion that there is no statutory requirement to provide the school board members with an agenda of the matters to be taken up at such a meeting. See OAG 75-488, copy enclosed, at page three.
If an agenda for a regular board meeting is involved, which, although not legally required but prepared pursuant to the policy of your local school board, or if an agenda for a special meeting is involved, which is required by KRS 160.270, the next consideration is the application of the "Open Records" provisions to those situations.
KRS 61.870 to 61.884 pertain to "Open Records." A school board is a "public agency" pursuant to KRS 61.870(1). "Public records" are defined in KRS 61.870(2) and KRS 61.878 sets forth those public records which are excluded from the application of KRS 61.870 to 61.884. The agenda for a school board meeting does not come within those public records excluded from the application of the "Open Records" statutes. Furthermore, under the broad definition of "public records" such agenda would, in our opinion, be considered "public records" under the following definition set forth in KRS 61.870(2):
"'Public records' means all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, discs, recordings or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics, which are prepared, owned, used, in the possession of or retained by a public agency. 'Public records' shall not include any records owned by a private person or corporation that are not related to functions, activities, programs or operations funded by state or local authority."
In conclusion, the statutes do not require that an agenda be prepared for regular meetings of the school board but if an agenda is prepared it is a "public record. " An agenda is required for a special meeting of the school board and it also is a "public record. " An agenda as a "public record" is, pursuant to KRS 61.872 open for inspection by any person during the regular office hours of the public agency. You may also wish to consider the provisions of KRS 61.805 to 61.850 (Open Meetings of Public Agencies), particularly KRS 61.820-61.825 concerning the notice requirements for regular and special meetings.