Request By:
Mrs. Doris McDowell, R.N.
Executive Director
Kentucky Board of Nursing
Education and Nurse Registration
6100 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Martin Glazer, Assistant Attorney General
You state that an increasing number of collection agencies, credit associations and individuals seek information concerning nurses.
You want to know about the nursing board's obligation to furnish such information. You state the computer service prints a name and address list of all nurses in a county or the state for a fee. You want to know whether you can charge for such service and can you require such request in writing.
KRS 61.872(2) provides in part:
". . . The official custodian [of records] may require written applications describing the records to be inspected. . ."
Also KRS 61.874 provides in part:
"(1) . . . when copies are requested, the custodian may require a written request and advanced payment of the prescribed fee.
(2) The public agency may prescribe a reasonable fee for making copies of public records which shall not exceed the actual cost thereof not including the cost of staff required."
So, based on these statutes - your agency can require written requests and charge a fee for furnishing such information in an amount not to exceed the cost of doing so, but in determining that cost, you cannot include cost of staff's time.
The method of obtaining such information and the fee should be set out by regulation, because KRS 61.876 provides in part:
"(1) Each public agency shall adopt rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 to provide full access to public records, to protect public records from damage and disorganization, to prevent excessive disruption of its essential functions, to provide assistance and information upon request and to insure efficient and timely action in response to application for inspection, and such rules and regulations shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(a) The principal office of the public agency and its regular office hours;
(b) The title and address of the official custodian of the public agency's records;
(c) The fees, to the extent authorized by KRS 61.874 or other statute, charged for copies;
(d) The procedures to be followed in requesting public records. "