Request By:
Mr. Fred S. Bachmeyer
Bush, Barbieri & Bachmeyer
Counsellors at Law
Security Trust Building
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have appealed to the Attorney General on behalf of your client, Dr. Diana S. Trenary, under the provisions of KRS 61.880. You state that Dr. Trenary was refused the right to inspect certain records in the custody of Eastern Kentucky University. The records are described as "annual evaluation for 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77 academic years and any other materials related to her termination." This request was denied by the official custodian, Charles Whitlock, on April 15, 1977, and a copy of Mr. Whitlock's letter was sent to the Attorney General as required by KRS 61.880(2).
We will deal with your appeal only from the standpoint of the provisions of the Open Records Law. Any civil right or property right which Dr. Trenary may have to see her personnel records we leave to your legal discretion.
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that personnel files contain material of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Such material is exempt from public disclosure under the provisions of KRS 61.878(1)(a). In OAG 76-717 we said:
"The public is entitled to know the position, work station and salary of a state employee. These are matters in which the public has an interest since state employees are carrying on the public's business at public expense."
The evaluation of a teacher's performance is a matter of opinion and does not constitute any action on the part of the University. We believe that the teacher is therefore entitled to have such information withheld from the public. The action which the University takes in the light of the evaluation is what the public is entitled to know. Such action is either the offering of a contract or the denial of a contract.
Since the public is not entitled to inspect a teacher's evaluation, the teacher has no more right than the public to inspect the evaluation under the Open Records Law.
It is therefore the opinion of the Attorney General that under the Open Records Law Eastern Kentucky University properly refused the request of Dr. Trenary to inspect her annual evaluations.